Obesity is one of the most prominent non-communicable diseases that is killing people. Especially in countries like India with a low rate of awareness, the percentage of people becoming obese is only increasing day by day. Obesity is not only dangerous itself but also leads to various other diseases. The term obesity refers to a condition when a person weighs more than what they should. It is when the fat accumulation in the body is so much that it begins to affect the overall health. It is when a person consumes more calories than they burn aka use as energy, their body stores the extra calories as fat that leads to obesity. Apart from increasing weight, obesity can put you at the risk of other diseases like diabetes, cardiac disease and high blood pressure. According to World Obesity Federation, 'a community of organisations dedicated to solving the problem of obesity shows that the percentage of Indian adults living with obesity is set to jump to around 5% by 2025, from 3.7% in 2014. The highest proportion of obese children and young adults were found in the U.S at nearly 13%. Egypt topped the list for adult obesity at about 35%.' 12 Harmless Habits That Are Making You Fat!

A lot of this problem contributed by the wrong diagnosis. Many people believe that even skinny people can be obese or they also sometimes fail to understand that there is a difference between being fat and being obese. According to Ms Shruti Sharma, Bariatric Counsellor and Nutritionist, Jaypee Hospital, Noida, 'The diagnosis of obesity is usually based on a physical examination and a patient history. A measurement called the body mass index (BMI) is used to assess the health risk associated with being overweight or obese. A BMI of 18.5 to 22.9 for Asian adults and 18.5 to 24.9 for Americans is considered within the healthy range. However, this classification does not apply to people younger than 18 years of age, pregnant women, or breastfeeding women. For people 65 years and older, the normal range is higher, beginning slightly above 18.5 and extending into the overweight range.' Methi For Weight Loss: Here’s How You Can Burn Fat With Fenugreek Seeds Naturally.

Here are a few shocking facts about Obesity according to WHO-

  1. Obesity is growing in leaps and bounds. According to the statistics, worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975.

  2. Especially after the 2000s, the number has just flared up like never before. In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these over 650 million were obese.

  3. Apart from childhood obesity, the rate of obesity among adults- above the age of 18- has also risen by 39% in the year 2016, and 13% were obese.

  4. There was a time when lack of food was killing people but today is the time when most of the world's population live in countries where being overweight is killing more people than being malnutrition.

  5. About 41 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2016.

  6. Over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were overweight or obese in 2016.

While there are way too many contributing factors to obesity and the ways to curb obesity are difficult, it is essential that we take it seriously and begin taking small steps towards the change.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 26, 2018 03:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).