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Tuesday, September 21, 2004
It's dangerous to be overweight
By Tina Lorenzana
Health and Fitness
AN EDITOR of a fitness magazine wrote that Americans are not "fat conscious" anymore. She said that in the sixties, people who were skinny flaunted their slim figures with tight revealing dresses while the more overweight ones covered themselves decently. It's a different story today, she says.
"Today's younger generation seems to have lost any "fat-consciousness" at all; in fact, they seem quite proud of their protruding stomachs with their low-cut jeans and shirts that fail to cover their midriffs. Skinny or fat, they all let it hang out."
Here in our country, showing off a triple or even quadruple layer of "bilbil" will be the butt of ridicule and jokes. But unfortunately, even if we're fat-shy and cover up our excesses well, the resulting effects will still not be denied. Not being able to wear tight jeans or body-hugging shirts is not the main consequence. (Although for some it's a big deal.) The effects of an expanded waistline are immediately seen in the heart, the blood and the organs. These are more devastating than not being able to wear a slinky black dress or a body fit muscle shirt.
When you're overweight or obese, that means there's a lot of excess fat in the body. These fat tissues are not just found under the skin. They can be found everywhere inside your body. They can be found in the blood vessels, which harden and clot. At some point, the clot may get dislodged and travel to the heart, which will cause you a heart attack or it may travel to the brain, which will lead to a stroke.
Since excess fat can also surround the heart and the other organs in the body, medical experts are now saying that having an inflated waistline increases the risk for cancer. Fat is known to increase the risk of developing cancers of the colon, breast, uterus, kidney, esophagus, pancreas, gallbladder, liver and top of the stomach.
That's on top of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, osteoporosis and other diseases.
For example, cancer of the lining of the uterus is strongly linked to a woman's weight. An obese woman, compared to a lean one, increases her risk of developing cancer of the uterus by 3 to 5%. Fat is also linked to breast cancer in postmenopausal women, increasing risk of the disease by 30 percent among the overweight and 50 percent among the obese. The obese are also particularly prone to "gastroesophageal reflux"--frequent heartburn where stomach acid backs up onto the esophagus, which can eventually lead to esophageal cancer.
One big factor for being overweight is not being physically active. When you're sedentary most of the time, many awful things happen to your body. You start to lose bone tissue at a faster rate. Remember the adage "If you don't use, you lose it"? Well, if 80 percent of your day is spent sitting down, you start losing bone, which makes you prone to injury. Your blood pressure also shoots up which means your heart is working harder than it should. Pretty soon that heart of yours will conk out and give up on you.
So don't think for one moment that the extra fat you have are just found in your "bilbil". They are not just stored in your "puson", waiting to be burned or liposuctioned. These excess fat are found everywhere inside your body, surround your organs and are metabolically active, which means they interact with your organs. This kind of fat can certainly not just be lipo-ed away.
Medical professionals also find it harder to manage the health of overweight patients. It's difficult to spot tumors early, catch recurrences, and determine the best chemotherapy dose, even fit into radiation machines. This complicates the situation of the patients and reduces their chances of survival.
Controlling your weight will ultimately depend on you. It's not easy, but the results will mean good health, a better life and who knows, maybe a tight jeans and a body-hugging shirt.
Next week's topic: How To Control Your Weight
(The writer is a fitness instructor and is certified by the American Council on Exercise. You can email her at lorenzana_tina@yahoo.com)
(September 21, 2004 issue)
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