Obesity: What's in a word?

April 11, 12:24 PMExtreme Weight Loss ExaminerMark Rubi

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN, REALLY?

 

Obesity: What’s in a word? People say that you should never discuss religion or politics in mixed company. Well, to use a Colorado analogy, those two subjects are bunny slope material compared to the reaction you get when you talk about obesity.

Many people’s gut reaction to the word is both highly emotional and completely irrational. This is due to simple ignorance as to what the word means as a medical definition. According to Centers for Disease Control (CDC), obesity in America means having a Body Mass Index (BMI) number greater than 30. The standard medical definition of overweight is to have a BMI between 25 and 30. The word does not mean lazy, ugly, stupid or slovenly. The word is a scientific description, and absolutely not a moral judgment.

Adipose tissue is the medical term for the fat we carry in our bodies. This fat is absolutely necessary and provides body insulation and stored energy or fuel on which our bodies depend upon to operate. Medical statistics show that having adipose tissue in excess of 25% for men and 33% qualifies that person as being obese.

In a purely scientific definition, overweight simply means that the level of adipose tissue has reached a point that it typically affects health in a negative manner. According to a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine and cited by Wikipedia, the BMI classification with the lowest mortality rate ranges between 22.5 and 25 for non-smokers and 24 and 27 for smokers.

Obesity lowers life expectancy in general by years and gets progressively worse with the rise in BMI. According to the article “Obesity” by Gabriel Uwaifo and coauthored by Elif Arioglu, published in eMedicine.com, severe obesity (BMI greater than 40) can reduce life expectancy by 5 years for women and up to 20 years for men.

Thus, the discussion of obesity needs to be in the manner of a public health issue and not as a matter of ignorance. The fact that the term “obesity” is generally and overwhelmingly misunderstood in American society does not lessen the health risks faced by the United States. The article by Uwaifo and Arioglu points out that lost productivity due to obesity in the U.S. has reached nearly $4 billion annually. In addition, the weight loss industry now totals more then $30 billion a year.

To paraphrase a well known movie line, “America, we have a problem!”
 

©Copyright: Mark Rubi, April 11, 2009