Unexpected Side Effects Of Obesity Health Risks

obesity health risks

Obesity Effects You Might Not Think About

We all know that obesity can have some serious health side effects, but there are other problems that can arise that you might not think about! Check out the article below and start living the DIY Lifestyle! You can do this – exercising at home has never been easier – if you are looking to make a change for the better hit us up or check out our Services! We are here for you!

Obesity has many faces…

“The obesity epidemic” as it has been deemed by both the media and health organizations alike, is something most people worldwide are aware of.

Greater global awareness of our health and well-being has pushed problems such as obesity, anorexia, and bulimia to the forefront.

Today, we’ll be focusing on the problems obesity can bring. While we’ll touch on the obvious health problems, we’ll try to uncover some hidden downsides that may not have occurred to you.

Health problems

First and foremost, obesity can have adverse effects on  your health – no doubt about that!

We need to make a clear distinction at this point – we are talking about obesity, and not necessarily just being “overweight”.

Though a lot of these health problems correlate with problems overweight people can face, they are more severe and frequent in obese people.

The wealth of health issues obesity brings boggles the mind. It’s clearly not healthy for any of your organs to be supporting such a large body.

Your muscles and bones will also suffer from the lack of exercise that commonly coincides with obesity. But the problems stretch further than that.

HospitalFor example, did you know healing from wounds is much more problematic? Let’s say an obese person gets injured in such a way that it requires stitches.

These stitches are under so much more pressure than they would normally be, that it can be difficult for them to keep the wound closed. This welcomes bacteria into the wound, making it infected.

Even the simple act of breathing can be heavily impeded by obesity. The lungs have to work that much harder to expand and retract, and this can have a knock-on effect on sleep.

Obesity can cause sleep apnea, wherein the throat closes for a few seconds.

This could wake you up, which could destroy normal sleep patterns, but it could lead to something much worse.

Employment problems

Now we move away from health problems and turn to societal problems. First, we’ll look at how obesity could affect a person’s employability. Straight off the bat, there are some jobs that are off the table – personal fitness trainers aren’t likely to be obese. Some jobs require people of a certain size for safety reasons.

Airlines, for example, may have to exclude people over a certain weight if they will have trouble moving around the cabin, or exiting through emergency doors. The army, too, chooses to exclude obese people.

JobOther jobs could choose to exclude people for weight reasons, too, but their reasoning may not be as fair. Some companies simply won’t want to hire obese people because of some perceived aesthetic reasons.

When presented with a healthy person and an obese person of equal qualification, an employer may choose the healthy person just because of perceived “problems” with hiring larger people.

But an unexpected downside of this is that should the obese person choose to sue for discrimination, they don’t have much of a legal leg to stand on.

A recent case brought to light the fact that, in most circumstances, obesity doesn’t qualify as a disability.

The only exception would be that if it was provable that health problems, not simple overeating, led to obesity, it could be said that the condition is a disability. Weight isn’t covered by normal discrimination laws either, even though things like age, race, and gender are.

Social problems

But the barriers don’t stop at employability. Even though it usually isn’t classed as a disability, obesity can have a massively debilitating effect on day-to-day life. For instance, transport becomes very difficult.

Most cars weren’t built for such large people, so you may be unable to drive yourself. Public transport, similarly, isn’t very accommodation – obese people may end up paying a premium for larger seats on trains and planes.

This carries over into simple leisure activities. Theaters, cinemas, football stadiums – once again, you’ll either find you can’t find any seats big enough, or you’ll be paying more to get a specialized seat.

Even something as simple as enjoying a meal at a restaurant with your family can be fraught with issues.

Wrap-Up

These, and many more issues, make obesity the epidemic that it is. According to the World Health Organization, more than half a billion people worldwide are medically obese.

If you don’t want to join this number or wish to get back down to a healthy weight, talk to your doctor about the best ways to get healthy long-term.

Izzy is a university student who loves photography, dance, and everything that involves physical activity (especially Zumba and running). She is also a fan of healthy eating habits and browsing the web for news on this subject. 
Izzy