Obesity Issues

Obesity issues are the main reason that people take action to lose weight.  Obesity issues impact all aspects of Malaysian life.  Healthcare, psychological, social and financial issues are at the forefront of the reasons for weight loss.

Obesity issues are not limited to the above, but can also impact on productivity and fertility too on a case by case basis.

Health and Fitness

With fat being added regularly and not burned off fast enough, the body will gain more fat deposits.  This results in insulin resistance and the emergence of type-2 diabetes.  The additional weight also stresses your body, resulting in high blood pressure and heart disease.  All these stresses on the body will result in the weakening of the body and the organs that make life possible.

These health factors will be noticed by insurance companies and your cost of medical insurance will start soaring, not to mention the doctor and medical bills.  The Malaysian government has realised this and have taken action through various community programs on non-communicable diseases.

Psychological and Social Issues

Research has found that depression can be corelated with abdominal obesity.  The Annals of Neurology May 2010 issue reported on a possible link of smaller brain sizes and the increased risk of dementia that correlated with higher levels of visceral fat.

The Journal of Consumer Research also found that an overweight women’s self esteem is impacted negatively when they see images of models, regardless of the size of the model.   School going obese and overweight children tend to get teased and this has an impact on their self esteem and confidence levels too.

Expenses Increase

So what happens if I don’t lose weight permanently?  Well you will notice your clothes and medical bills start to pile up, especially for those who have reached the obese levels.

Airlines now have policies in place that will allow them to refuse to transport overweight passengers  unless they upgrade to first class or buy an additional seat to cater for their bulk.  This refusal can be made on the grounds of safety (for example: seat belts not long enough, the armrest needs to be up) as well as the comfort of the obese as well as other passengers.

All in all, your expenses go up, buying medication on a lifelong basis, increased cost of medical insurance and increased cost of clothes to fit you.  This is why immediate weight loss actions are crucial to prevent these issues from cropping up.  And if these issues have appeared, then weight loss is the remedy to immediately put in place to stop these issues from escalating further.