Nowadays, losing weight has been a new trend in the global community. Losing weight has been important for many persons not to look good, but mainly for health reasons. The alarming increase of cardiovascular diseases and lifestyle diseases has been associated excessive weight gain and also, on eating unhealthy foods. With the technological advancement today, the life is fast paced. Hence, the food are processed, ready-to-eat and microwavable. They are filled with preservatives, fats, calories and sodium.
Due to the availability of fast food chains today, more and more people binge on high fat foods and beverages. People love to eat. That is why more in individuals are gaining excessive weight over the years.
Based on the statistics garnered by the World Health Organization, the number of obese people doubled since 1980. According to their latest survey in 2008, approximately 1.4 billion adults and those 20 and under are obese. In people ages 20 and above, 35% are overweight and about 11% are obese.
According to studies, more obese people die than those who are underweight. Globally, there is about 10% of the population that fall under the obese category. Thus, there are many people clamoring to lose weight because mainly, they want to be healthy.
One major cause of obesity is metabolic imbalance on the calories that were consumed and calories expended or burned. Ingestion of high number of calories can lead to obesity. Accordingly, other reasons are that people live in a very sedentary and inactive lifestyle nowadays because of lack of time to exercise, using vehicles to get to destinations instead of walking and eating in fast food chains.
Obesity can lead to diseases that can be fatal. Cardiovascular diseases are among the most common illnesses in obese people specifically heart disease and stroke. It is the leading cause of death in 2008. Physical exercise can help burn the calories being consumed to reestablish energy balance in the body. This will lead to steady decrease in weight and prevention of fat deposits in the body. Diet, on the other hand, limits the intake of foods that can lead to excessive calories that cannot be burned by the body.