Obesity

Obesity is an excessive accumulation of fat that presents a risk to one’s health. In 2017, according to the World Health Organization, over 4 million people died as a result of being overweight or obese. Obesity is a risk factor for other diseases including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, and is associated with a number of cancers, including breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancers. The good news about obesity is that most of the causes are preventable and reversible, even though the chief culprits in the rise in obesity are the changes in our diets in recent years to more foods high in fat and sugar and decreases in physical activity. We now know what to do: changing our diet by reducing fats and sugars and increasing the amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and increasing our levels of regular physical activity can make a difference. The challenge is maintaining these behavior changes.