What is obesity?
While overweight means weighing too much, obesity means having too much body fat. Your weight class depends on your body mass index (BMI), which compares your weight to your height.
If you have a BMI of 30 or more, you’re in the obese range. Obesity is categorized into three levels or grades:
- Class 1 (low-risk obesity) — BMI of 30.0-34.9
- Class 2 (moderate-risk obesity) — BMI of 35.0-39.9
- Class 3 (high-risk obesity) — BMI of 40.0 or greater
How does obesity affect my health?
Obesity increases your chances of developing health problems and puts you at risk for many serious conditions, including:
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease and stroke
- Type 2 diabetes
- High cholesterol
- Joint problems (caused by extra weight)
- Trouble breathing, including sleep apnea
Combined with obesity, those conditions often lead to a lower quality of health, and sometimes may result in disability or premature death. However, even incremental weight loss can make a difference; losing 5-10% of weight can delay or prevent some of these diseases.
What are some ways to reduce obesity?
Screening and regular checkups are an important factor in reducing obesity. Adults should be screened at least once a year to see if their BMI is high or increasing so that they can make changes to their lifestyle.
A healthy diet and regular physical exercise are the most familiar ways of reducing obesity; however, these don’t always accomplish the necessary results.
If you’ve tried diet and exercise for a prolonged period and still haven’t lost weight, sometimes doctors recommend weight loss procedures, either surgical or nonsurgical. Dr. Anya has years of experience treating obesity and can help determine if a weight loss procedure is right for you, and if so, which one will work best for your specific needs.
Dr. Anya also offers diet counseling, which is a good way learn healthy eating habits, either in conjunction with a weight loss procedure or not. To find out more, call Anya Bariatrics and Aesthetics or schedule an appointment online.
