Health risks and obesity

Article by: Prof Kerryn Phelps

There are quite a number of health dangers associated with being overweight particularly in the long term as we get older and start suffering from a whole range of obesity related health problems.

People who are overweight have a higher risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and therefore suffer a higher risk of heart disease and stroke. Then there are other lifestyle related diseases like sleep apnoea, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers that are related to overweight and obesity. So these are the life threatening conditions.

But there are also the quality of life issues. Things like arthritis in the knees and hips, back pain, and reduced mobility, physical strength, vitality and quality of sleep. These are quality of life issues that can affect everyone and their relationships.

What can happen when overweight is that the body develops fatty tissue deposits around the back of the nose and throat that can lead to a condition called sleep apnoea. What happens is that during the night sufferers will partially wake up, you'll hear snoring and then they stop breathing for a little while and then start breathing again and that is the pattern called sleep apnoea. Apnoea means 'stop breathing'. If you do this enough it puts a strain on the heart, increases blood pressure, and increases the risk of heart disease and this can actually be life threatening.

Increase health risk with increase waist

Women's relative risks compared with a waist less than 80cm are as follows:

Source: Cancer Council Victoria

Men's relative risks compared with a waist less than 94cm are as follows:

Source: Cancer Council Victoria

When to start worrying about weight

But as soon as you are in a health risk category is the time to start thinking 'What does that mean?'

Start worrying about weight if you go to their doctor or health professional and have your height and weight measured and your BMI is in the overweight range.

Another sign can be if the normal cloths don't fit so well anymore. In general for females when the waist measurement gets more than 80cm that is an important sign that you need to take notice and do something about it as women are faced with an increase health risk. If the waist measure gets over 88cm the health risk is even higher. So knowing their waist measurement and keeping that under 80cm is very important. These are measures that give some clues whether there is a health risk involved or not.

Tips for getting weight under control

1. Measure up! Size really does matter! There are some questions marks around the BMI particularly for men who are very muscular like incredible body builders or a front row forward rugby player. Their BMI will be higher and still be in a healthy weight range for those men. But for average build people the BMI is a useful measure. And combined with the waist measurement even more useful to measure up. (To measure up yourself click here)


2. It is very important to look at healthy diet. Understanding what it means to have a healthy diet with potion control. It is one thing to eat really good food but how much of it is very important as well.


3. The next is to exercise regularly. Regularly does not mean once a year or once in a blue moon; it means every day some form of activity including some weight training a few times a week. This means about three times a week resistance/ weight exercise and every day some form of activity like walking, swimming, cycling or dancing.


4. The other thing is to have regular check-ups.  It is really important to look at the health and spend the time and sit down with a health professional on a regular basis and focus at health risks.

So diet and exercise with regular check-ups are important fundamental things that everyone should do to improve life and increase the life span. If you need help to implement these strategies, invest in yourself and find a program that can teach these skills.