4.3: Negative Health Implications of Obesity

People who have obesity, compared to those with a normal or healthy weight, are at increased risk for many serious diseases and health conditions, including the following:

• All-causes of death (mortality)
• High blood pressure (Hypertension)
• High LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, or high levels of triglycerides (Dyslipidemia)
• Type 2 diabetes
• Coronary heart disease
• Stroke
• Gallbladder disease
• Osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage and bone within a joint)
• Sleep apnea and breathing problems
• Many types of cancer
• Low quality of life
• Mental illness such as clinical depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders4
• Body pain and difficulty with physical functioning

Understanding Diabetes

As you learned at the beginning of this chapter, the body breaks down the food we eat to turn it into energy, this process is called metabolism. The disease that affects how your body turns food into energy is called Diabetes. There are three main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes (diabetes while pregnant). More than 122 million Americans are living with diabetes (37.3 million, 11.3% of the US population) or prediabetes (96 million, 38.0% of the adult US population).

When discussing diabetes you will often hear people talk about Insulin. Most of the food you eat is broken down into sugar (also called glucose) and released into your bloodstream. When your blood sugar goes up, it signals your pancreas to release insulin. Insulin acts like a key to let the blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy. Without insulin, blood sugar can’t get into cells causing the blood sugar to build up in the bloodstream. High amounts of blood sugar are damaging to the body and causes many of the symptoms and complications of diabetes.

If you have type 1 diabetes, your pancreas doesn’t make insulin or makes very little insulin. Approximately 5-10% of the people who have diabetes have type 1. Type 1 Diabetes is usually diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults. Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake) that stops your body from making insulin.

If you have type 2 diabetes, your cells don’t respond normally to insulin. About 90-95% of people with diabetes have type 2. It develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults (but more and more in children, teens, and young adults). Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, eating healthy food, and being active.

You’re at risk for developing type 2 diabetes if you:

• Have prediabetes
• Are overweight
• Are 45 years or older
• Have a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes
• Are physically active less than 3 times a week
• Have ever had gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or given birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds
• Are African American, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian, or Alaska Native (some Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans are also at higher risk)