Obesity is a condition where excess fat piles up in your body. In addition to being a cosmetic condition, you can also have other health risks like heart issues, diabetes, high blood pressure, and in some cases, various kinds of cancers. There are several reasons why some people struggle to lose weight. In most cases, obesity results from inherited physiological and environmental factors coupled with diet, physical activity, and exercise choices.
Symptoms
Body mass index (BMI) is used to identify obesity. For most people, BMI gives a reasonable estimate of body fat. But, it does not directly measure the body fat, which is why some people like athletes might have a BMI under the obesity category despite them not having excess body fat. Asians having a BMI of 23 or more might be at a higher risk of health problems.
Concerns regarding obesity and overweight are increasing, which seems to accelerate over the years exponentially. The good thing is that obesity is changeable only if you adopt a proper lifestyle and have a healthy diet. Five lifestyle changes should be incorporated into our daily lives to have a healthy lifestyle.
Obesity prevention for kids
Indulge your kids in some fun and exciting physical activities: WHO recommends that kids and teens should be regularly involved in 0at least 60 minutes of physical activity. These activities can be games, sports, enrolling them in gym classes, or even outdoor chores.
Have an early relationship with healthy food: From an early age, motivate your children to try different kinds of fruits, vegetables, and proteins. As they grow older, there is a high chance that they will have them in their diet.
Eat healthy foods as a family: Changing eating habits makes your children experience healthy eating from an early age. This will make things easier for them to continue these eating habits as they grow.
Restrict unhealthy foods in your house: Bringing unhealthy food to your home will make your children want to have them. Instead, fill your pantry with healthy food items and have less-healthy snacks in your household, a rare thing.
Limit your child’s screen time: Nowadays, children spend more time on phones and laptops, neglecting the time for physical activity and sound sleep. Please encourage them to rest well and exercise daily because it plays an essential role in a healthy weight.
Ensure your kids are getting the required amount of sleep: Research says that children and adults not having a good sleep end up gaining more weight. Healthy sleep habits include a sleep schedule, bedtime ritual, and a comfortable pillow and mattress.
Feed growing children appropriate portions: Toddlers do not need large portions of food. From age 1 to 3, every inch of height should equal around 40 calories of food consumption.
Obesity prevention for adults
Eat healthy food: Foods containing carbohydrates, sugar, and fried food should be avoided at all costs. Instead, there should be more intake of green, leafy vegetables to provide your body with the nutrients it requires.
Exercise: At least 45 minutes should be kept aside for yourself to exercise. Doing cardio and weight training simultaneously is an excellent way to reduce weight. It not only tones up your muscles but also has a positive impact on reducing belly fat.
Stop smoking and consuming alcohol: Smoking and alcohol bring extreme adverse effects to the body. Alcohol directly hots your liver, while tobacco adds to the existing health issues concerning obesity like cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
At least 7-8 hours of sleep: To have a consistent equilibrium and function well throughout the day, your body regularly requires a sufficient amount of sleep to keep charging yourself and keep going.
Try not to stress too much: Taking up on stress leads you to overeat. There are other ways of dealing with stress, like meditation or yoga, and trying to do that instead of binge eating.
Consume more good fat: Not all fat is bad. Healthy dietary fats like polyunsaturated fats improve cholesterol levels and reduce obesity risk.
These tips are known to work, and we hope you get on to the lifestyle of no obesity in the future.