What is obesity? In simple words: Being extremely overweight. The word may sound simple to pronounce and read, but the side effects of obesity are overwhelming and life threatening. Many people tend to ignore obesity by considering it a simple case of being overweight, but that is not how it should be.
Obesity increases blood pressure, which in turn, also increases the risk of heart diseases. Not just the heart, but the lungs and other organs are also effected. There are many other tiny side effects of obesity, that when added together, make for a lot of pain. These include back pain, laziness, difficulty in breathing, poor life quality, depression and other psychological effects as well.
There's a belief that the higher the income of a person, the more likely they are to be obese. This is because the chances of them consuming fast food from international chains becomes higher. Since not everybody can afford those meals, hence this proposition has been around. However, obesity is not present in high-income countries only. In fact, there are around 70% cases in low or middle-income countries.
Also See: Obesity & Heart Health: Risk Factors & Prevention #infographic
There are several factors that lead to obesity, and several steps as shown below, that can help us control it.
Infographic by: World Bank Group
