Why are so many people overweight or obese today?

Overweight and obesity result from an imbalance involving excessive calorie consumption and/or inadequate physical activity. For each individual, body weight is the result of a combination of genetic, metabolic, behavioral, environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic influences. The present day life style, environment and genetics are the main reasons for this. Life style and behavioral habits are the most important reasons for these disturbing trends. Eating junk foods, fast foods, beverages and lack of exercise (eating too many calories while not getting enough physical activity) allows the person to add on weight to his body to dangerously alarming proportions. Behavioral and environmental factors provide the greatest opportunities for prevention and treatment.

How does overweight and obesity affect an individual’s health?

If a person is overweight, he is more likely to develop health problems; such as,heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer (such as colon cancer, endometrial cancer, and postmenopausal breast cancer) , gallbladder disease, sleep apnea (interrupted breathing during sleep), osteoarthritis (wearing away of the joints). The more overweight an individual is, the more likely he is to have health problems. Apart from this other serious consequences of severe obesity are well documented and include heart failure, lung problems, digestive diseases and other complications.

Is there any evidence for this statement?

Yes there are plenty and I can quote a few in the following sentences. In a 12 year follow-up of 336,442 men and 419,060 women, it was found that overweight people of both sexes, especially young overweight people, tend to die sooner than their lean contemporaries and the death rates for men 50% above average weight were increased approximately two fold.. In a study of 200 morbidly obese men aged 23 to 70 years, with an average weight 143.5 kg showed a twelve fold increase in death rate in the 25-34 year age group and a six fold increase in the 35-44 year age group. During the average follow-up period of 7 ½ years, 50 of the original group had died.

We can get glaring evidence this even from the Guinness Book of Records which memorializes the world’s heaviest individuals. Robert Earl Hughes, the heaviest human ever recorded was born in Illinois, USA in 1926. By age six he weighed 91 kgs, by age 10 he was 171 kilos, by age 25 he was 406 kilos, and in 1958, the year of his death, he weighed 484 kilos. At the age of 32, he developed measles and was treated in the modified semi trailer (in which he traveled) as he was too big to be taken to any hospital. He developed uremia and died. As no coffin was able to fit him, he was buried in a piano case which was lowered into the grave by a crane. Like Hughes a fair number of people have found their names in the Guinness Book due to their obesity. It is quite saddening to note that none of these people who gained their names in Guinness book of records lived over 40 years of age.
Individuals who are obese (BMI > 30)* have a 50 to 100% increased risk of premature death from all causes, compared to individuals with a healthy weight.

Are there any other associated problems apart from what you have mentioned before?

The obese patients not only suffer from health related problems but also from emotional problems linked to obesity like feeling depressed;feeling rejected;feeling shameful;feeling unattractive; and feeling shy in social settings.They face discrimination at work, at school, and in social settings
Is there any benefit if one reduces his weight ? Can the serious complications that has been mentioned prevented ?
Weight loss and regular exercise can help improve the harmful effects of being overweight. Studies show if an individual is overweight or obese, losing 5–10% of body weight can improve his health considerably. It has been estimated that a ten percent reduction in body weight corresponds to a twenty percent reduction in the risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Weight loss can result in lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar, and improved cholesterol levels. A person with a Body Mass Index (BMI) above the healthy weight range may benefit from weight loss, especially if he or she has other health risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, a sedentary lifestyle, and a personal and/or family history of heart disease.

What are the methods that an individual has to choose from in order to loose weight?

The obesity is a complex; multifactorial chronic disease The method of treatment depends on level of obesity, overall health condition and motivation to lose weight. Treatment can include a combination of diet, exercise, behavior modification, and sometimes weight-loss drugs. In some cases of severe obesity, gastrointestinal surgery may be recommended.
Can you tell us about the Normal Digestive Process in us? How is this altered in the obesity surgeries?
After we swallow our food, it moves down the esophagus to the stomach, where a strong acid mixes with the food to start the digestion. The stomach holds about 500 – 600 ml of of food. The food in the stomach moves into the duodenum (the first segment of the small intestine), where it mixes with bile and pancreatic juice (produced by the liver and pancreas, respectively). This is completely mixed and the digested food enters the jejunum and ileum, the remaining intestine (15 to 18 feet) to complete the absorption of almost all calories and nutrients. The unabsorbed food passes into the large intestine and is excreted out.