Having belly fat, or a thick waistline, is one of the great issues of all time. Over the years, people around the world have faced this problem. These days, many medical associations consider abdominal obesity a disease. Due to the impact of the pandemic on lifestyles, a lot of people have found themselves eating all the time while they work from home, whether cooking for themselves or using food delivery services. The more fatty foods high in sugar and sodium that you eat, the more your weight and waistline will expand.
Anyone experiencing this condition should take note of the increased risk of various diseases that obesity causes. So, if your midriff is getting out of shape, it’s time to change your lifestyle and get in shape to safeguard your health.
When girth gets greater
Obesity is widely acknowledged as a silent threat that can cause unwelcome changes in almost every system of the body, leading to at least 20 diseases. We don’t have space to go into them all here but a few of them include osteoarthritis from carrying too much body weight, several kinds of cancer, and reproductive disorders. Not to mention diseases resulting from high cholesterol levels, from fatty liver to hyperlipidemia. Moreover, obesity affects blood pressure control, increasing the risk of high blood pressure. Obesity also affects the respiratory system causing conditions such as pulmonary hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea and asthma. Obesity also affects insulin resistance, thereby raising the risk of diabetes.
The abovementioned diseases are risk factors that can lead to other diseases such as myocardial ischemia, heart failure, and cerebrovascular disease. Medical reports indicate that obesity is a risk factor for Alzheimer's Disease. Obesity is also a risk factor for poor prognosis for influenza and, indeed, coronaviruses such as Covid-19. Obese people have also been found to have a higher mortality rate as a result of picking up more serious medical conditions than normal weight people. As such, if we allow our waistline to expand continually, the weight of various diseases will become so overwhelming that they will be difficult to remedy.
How fat are you?
Naked-eye observation of your condition may not be enough. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to check whether one’s body shape exceeds the standard: calculate your Body Mass Index. Your ‘BMI’ is easy to work out: take your body weight in kilograms and divide it by your height in metres. Then square that figure. Diagnostic criteria for obesity in Thais and Asians is BMI ≥25 kg/m2. The waistline is measured in centimetres. For men, it should be ≥90 cm, and for women, it should be ≥80 cm. If you exceed the standard, it means you're going “belly up”!
To reduce your belly circumference… start with your heart
When you know that your BMI or waistline exceeds the standard, it’s time to take more care of your body to prevent the risk of various diseases. Effective weight loss involves reducing the amount of energy-generating matter you eat each day and doing “Moderate Intensity Physical Activity” to help maintain your weight loss.
Let's start with food. There are many ways to make dietary modifications and achieve healthy weight loss. One of them is a simple 2:1:1 formula. Each meal is divided into four equal portions: two portions of vegetables, one portion of rice or other starch, and one portion of protein.
Another formula is 6:6:1. This requires eating no more than six teaspoons of sugar, no more than six teaspoons of oil, and no more than one teaspoon of salt per day. This diet formula will help reduce the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and others.
Besides diet, another important factor is exercise. We can adjust our daily activities to increase metabolism with brisk walking, cycling, gardening, housework, or similar. The recommendation is to do it 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
Other therapies that may be used for obese patients include medication prescribed by a doctor and, in the case of extremely overweight patients, perhaps with other co-morbidities, gastric bypass surgery.
Above all, the most important factor is your heart condition. You have to be ready to change yourself for yourself and by yourself. Always remember; maintaining a healthy weight will protect you from many diseases.
This article has been verified for accuracy by Dr. Patawee Boontanon, Infectious Disease Pathologist, Queen Sirikit Hospital.
Sources:
• Corporate Communication, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital
• HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center
http://medicine.swu.ac.th/msmc/?p=759
• The Government Public Relations Department
https://www.prd.go.th/th/content/category/detail/id/31/iid/12561
• Pegueroles J,et al. Oncotarget. 2018 Oct 5; 9(78): 34691–34698.
• Upadhyay J, et al. Med Clin North Am.2018 Jan;102(1):13-33.
• https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html
• Ryan DH, et al. Med Clin North Am. 2018 Jan;102(1):49-63.