Obesity is a condition in which a person has an abnormally high and unhealthy proportion of Body Fat.Being overweight or obese is a risk factor for Heart Diseases.
There are 400 million adults worldwide who are obese and one billion who are overweight. Children are getting fatter too. Worldwide, 17.6 million children under five are estimated to be overweight.
If you are overweight you may develop hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis. These conditions will put you at high risk of cardiovascular disease.As your BMI increases, so does your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Obesity is diagnosed by Body Mass Index (BMI). If you are a woman, a BMI greater than 21 may adversely affect your heart’s health. If your BMI is more than 30, you are obese and at serious risk of cardiovascular disease.
B M I | BMI Categories |
Below 18.5 | Under Weight |
18.5 – 24 | Normal |
25 – 29 | Over Weight |
30 – 34 | Obese (Gread-1) |
35 – 39 | Obese (Gread-2) |
40 & Above | Extreme Obesity |
Obesity and coronary heart disease risk, including hypertension; dyslipidemia, particularly reductions in HDL cholesterol; and impaired glucose tolerance or non–insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
Left ventricular hypertrophy is common in patients with obesity and to some extent is related to systemic hypertension. However, abnormalities in left ventricular mass and function also occur in the absence of hypertension and may be related to the severity of obesity. Hypertension is approximately three times more common in obese than normal-weight persons.