What is obesity?

Obesity is a serious form of overweight which gives rise to health risks. An obese person is also called a 'obese'. How do you know if you have a normal weight? Your normal healthy weight depends on your height and age. There is a useful index - known as BMI (Body Mass Index) - which is used to calculate if your body weight matches your height. If the BMI in adults between 25 and 30 is, there is, according to the World Health Organisation's definition overweight. At a BMI of 30, we speak of obese (very overweight).

Morbid obesity
From a BMI of 40, there is very seriously overweight, also called morbid obesity. In women, there is usually of morbid obesity with a body weight from 100 kg, usually from 120 kg in men.

Causes obesity

There are several causes for obesity, there is not one cause. Which cause when plays a role is not always clear. As heredity can sometimes play a role, but the influence of environmental factors seems to be more decisive. This will especially over-consumption (too much and too unhealthy food) and an inactive lifestyle (with little movement) meant.
In several studies, for example, found a link between the number of hours watching television and the development of childhood obesity. Often people are not aware of how much they eat and how little they actually move. In some cases, mental factors may also play a role in the development of obesity. In addition, overweight and obesity are more common in populations with low levels of education and people of Turkish and Moroccan origin. The other groups are:

People with a chronic illness or disability.
Children who had low weight at birth and subsequently underwent a rapid catch-up growth.
People who have just quit smoking.