Obesity

Guidelines to follow for a low Fat diet

Menu for 1 day for someone on a low fat diet

A low fat diet is a diet that is low in total fat, unhealthy fats and cholesterol.

There are healthy fats and unhealthy fats.

Healthy Fats

These can improve cholesterol. There are two kinds, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated fats are found in avocados, nuts, and vegetable oils, such as olive, canola, and sunflower oil. Polyunsaturated fats are found in vegetable oils, such as soybean or corn oil. Omega 3 fats can help decrease the risks of heart disease and can be found in fish, such as salmon, herring, trout, tuna, and in plant foods, such as walnuts, flaxseed, soybeans, and canola oil.

Unhealthy Fats

A diet high in saturated and trans fats and cholesterol may cause unhealthy cholesterol levels. This can lead to heart disease. You should limit your intake of these foods: butter, cheese, ice cream, whole milk, palm oil, beef, pork, chicken skin, sausage, hot dogs, bologna, fried and baked foods. Cholesterol is found in meat, eggs, and dairy. Intake of cholesterol should be limited too.

When cooking, or baking we should replace high fat ingredients with low-fat or non-fat ones.

Breakfast

• Porridge (With raspberries to flavour if needed)

• Banana

Lunch

• A small Tuna salad sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes, if needed, light mayo could be added.

• Apple

Dinner

• Salmon with a pineapple salsa

• Brown rice

• Green leaf salad with peppers

Snack

• Chopped up carrots or peppers

(ii) to the wider community

Problems caused by Obesity – (i) to the individual;

• Obesity can be linked to the development of long term diseases placing strain on the Social care services.

• People may miss work because of these diseases and so this also strains the Social Care services.

• Modelled projections indicated that indirect expenses of obesity would be costing about £27 billion in the UK by 2015.

• The social care costs for house-bound people suffering from severe obesity related illnesses and those with walking aids and home adaptations are very high and are likely to increase within the next few years.

Coronary Heart Disease: As your body mass index rises so does your risk of getting Coronary Heart Disease. CHD is caused when plaque builds up in the arteries which supply oxygen enriched blood to the heart. The plaque builds up and blocks the arteries eventually causing angina or a heart attack

High Blood Pressure: Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood. If this rises and stays over time this can cause serious health problems for you. Being obese increases your chances of having High Blood Pressure.

Stroke: Being overweight increases the chance of having plague build up in the arteries. Over time, an area of plaque can rupture causing a clot to form in the blood. If this is near your brain, blood with oxygen will not be able to get to your brain.

Type 2 Diabetes: The hormone insulin is used to turn glucose into energy. Diabetes is a disease where the body’s glucose level or blood sugar level is too high. Normally the body breaks down this glucose and transports it around the body. The cells then break it down using insulin. With Type 2 diabetes the body’s cells don’t use insulin properly, the body reacts first by producing more insulin but over time it can’t make enough insulin to control its blood sugar level. Type 2 diabetes can lead to an early death, CHD, stroke, kidney disease, and blindness. Most people who have Type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese.

Cancer: Being overweight or obese increases the chance of getting colon, breast, endometrial, and gallbladder cancers.

Osteoarthritis: This is a common joint problem or the knees, hips and lower back, it occurs when the tissue around the joint wears away. Extra weight on the joints can put more pressure on the joints causing more pain.

These are but a few of the many health problems relating to obesity.

Statistics and Facts

Factors affecting energy requirements

The link between energy input and energy output

• 1 in 4 Irish people are obese.

• 37% of Irish adults are overweight

• 80% of over-50s in Ireland are overweight or obese

• Up to 80,000 people in Ireland are morbidly obese

• Ireland’s overweight and obesity levels exceed the European average

• 26.5% of Irish girls are classed as overweight or obese under the age of 20

• 16% of Irish boys are classed as overweight or obese under the age of 20

• There has been a 400% increase in the number of children under the age of 5 being referred to the childhood obesity programme in Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

• 20% of 9 year olds are overweight and 7% are obese

• People don’t realise that they or their children may be overweight

• People are at a higher risk of getting cancer as a result of being obese

• Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980

• 65% of the world’s population live in countries where being overweight or obese is more of a risk than being underweight

• More people in the world are suffering from obesity than hunger

• Lack of sleep can cause weight gain of 2 pounds in a week

• The people of the USA are collectively overweight by around 4 billion pounds

• In ancient Greek and Egyptian medicine, obesity was considered a medical disorder

• In Mauritania, some women force feed their daughters because obesity for women is idealized in the country

• New Zealand have denied people a residency visa because of obesity

• Your age plays a part in energy requirements, this is because metabolism slows down with age so the number of calories an average person needs will decrease as they get older. But this can be prevented by being active and good nutrition.

• Your gender also plays a role in energy requirements because men need more calories than women. Men have more muscle mass than women. Men need around 2,800 calories a day whereas women need 2,100 calories a day.

• A persons Basic Metabolism Rate is the number of calories they need to preform basic bodily functions. This is the amount of energy output excluding physical activity. Genetics can vary people’s BMR.

• Activity also affects how much energy you need. This is because an active person burns a lot of calories and therefore needs to eat a sufficient amount to insure they don’t have a negative energy balance. It is the same the other way around; an inactive person doesn’t burn as many calories and therefore shouldn’t eat more than they need so that they don’t have a positive energy balance.

• Your weight also affects how much energy you need, the bigger you are the more energy and calories you need to keep your body going.

• Muscle mass also affects how many calories you burn; the more muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, so it requires energy to sustain it.

If your energy input is greater than energy output, the extra weight is stored as fat and this can lead to obesity. This link dictates whether or not we gain or lose weight or just stay the same. This link is also determined by the laws of thermodynamics which state that energy cannot be created or destroyed but can only transferred between bodies. We convert the potential energy in our food to heat, work and storage.

Energy is then used in our bodies when we do physical activities and movement, transport, absorption, and digestion within our bodies.

When you’re in a positive energy balance, or when you’re in a negative energy balance, everything from metabolism, to your hormonal balance, to your mood is impacted.

A severe negative energy balance can lead to a decrease in bone mass, reductions in the thyroid hormone resulting in a slower metabolism, an inability to concentrate and poor physical performance. But it can result in weight loss. The body notices a decrease in energy input and the body’s fat reserves are called upon to give energy. However, your body doesn’t know the difference between a strict diet closely monitored by a physician or you being starving. All your body knows is that it’s not getting enough energy, so it shuts down all non-survival functions.

Having a positive energy balance can cause plaque to build up in the arteries, cholesterol and blood pressure to increase. It can also lead to even more health related issues for example diabetes or even some cancers.

The link between energy input and energy output determines our weight and overall health.

Causes for Obesity: Part 2

• Medicines: Some medicines cause people to gain weight, there are many reasons for this; they cause an increase in appetite, they slow the rate of which your body burns calories, or hold extra water. These medicines include corticosteroids, antidepressants, steroids and seizure medicines.

• Emotional factors: Some people eat when they are sad, angry, stressed or just bored. This overeating can cause weight gain and then cause overweight and obesity.

• Smoking: Although smoking is a terrible habit that is a serious health risk, quitting can cause weight gain. One reason is that food smells and tastes better after quitting. Another reason is that nicotine burns calories at a faster rate than normal so you burn fewer calories when you quit.

Causes for Obesity: Part 1

Causes for Obesity: Part 3:

• Age: As people get older, they tend to lose muscle, especially if they’re less active Muscle loss can slow the rate at which your body burns calories. So if one doesn’t reduce calorie intake as one ages, one may be at risk of gaining weight. Menopause also causes women to gain 5 pounds. They also have more weight around their waist than before.

• Pregnancy: During pregnancies, women gain weight to support their child’s development and growth. Some women find it hard to lose that weight after giving birth. This can cause overweight and obesity, especially after multiple pregnancies.

• Lack of sleep: People who sleep less prefer eating foods with higher calories and more carbohydrates which are stored as fat if not used as energy and cause overweight and obesity. Sleep also maintains a healthy balance between the hormones that make you hungry or full, ghrelin or leptin respectively. When you haven’t gotten enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down causing you to overeat. Sleep also affects how your body reacts to insulin, lack of sleep results in a higher than normal blood sugar level which can also lead to diabetes.

• Lack of energy balance: If your energy input is greater than energy output, the extra weight is stored as fat and this can lead to obesity.

• An inactive lifestyle: We are an inactive generation, this is because of how modern technologies have made our lives easier and lazier. We don’t have to walk or cycle everywhere as there are cars. Many of our hobbies are not very active; reading, watching the television and browsing through social media. Because of this, we are not burning the calories we take in, which causes obesity.

• Genes and family history: If one or both of one’s parents are obese, there is more of a chance that one will be obese. Also because children often adopt the habits of their parents, if a parent eats unhealthily, their child might pick this trait up.

• Health conditions: Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) is a condition where the thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone causing metabolism to slow down and weight gain. Tiredness and weakness are also caused. Cushing’s syndrome is a condition where the body’s adrenal gland produces too much of the hormone cortisol. People who have Cushing’s syndrome gain weight having upper-body obesity but have thin arms and legs. Also, women who have PCOS gain weight as well as having excessive hair growth, having reproductive problems and they also have other health issues. These problems are caused by high levels of the hormones androgens.

Index

Page 1: Definition

Page 2: Causes

Page 3: The link between energy input and energy output

Page 4: Factors affecting energy requirements

Page 5: Problems caused by Obesity – (i) to the individual; (ii) to the wider community

Page 6: Current statistical evidence of Obesity levels in Ireland

Page 7: Guidelines to follow for a low Fat diet

Page 8: Menu for 1 day for someone on a low fat diet

Obesity

Definition:

Obesity is a condition where an individual is 20% or more over their recommended weight.

OBESITY