1. Assignment on
“Obesity and its impact on health”
Submitted By:
Shamima Nasrin Bithi
Id: 032182011
Semester: 7th
Batch: 54th
Department of Pharmacy
Submitted To:
Dr Kallol Debnath
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacy
University of Development Alternative
Submission Date: 20/06/2020

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction:.................................................................................................................................................3
1.1. General discussion: ..............................................................................................................................3
1.2. Objective of this assignment:...............................................................................................................3
2. What is obesity? ...........................................................................................................................................4
3. Types of Obesity:..........................................................................................................................................5
4. Reasons of Obesity:......................................................................................................................................6
5. Impacts of Obesity on Health:......................................................................................................................7
6. Conclusion: .................................................................................................................................................13
References: .........................................................................................................................................................15

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1. Introduction:
1.1. General discussion:
Obesity is a condition in which a person has excess body fat. A person is considered obese if they have a body
mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater.
Obesity is a major public health problem and that is estimated to affect around one in every four adults
and around one in every five children aged 10 to 11. Overweight and obesity become fifth leading risk for
global death. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with at least 2.8 million people dying
each year as a result of being overweight or obese. Once associated with high-income countries, obesity
is now also prevalent in low- and middle-income countries.
Today’s way of life is less physically active than it used to be. People travel on buses and cars, rather than
walking, and many people work in offices, where they are sitting still for most of the day. Children in cities
plays video games rather than play in outside. This means that the calories they eat are not getting burnt
off as energy. Instead, the extra calories are stored as fat. Eating excess calories and less physical activity
is the main cause of obesity.
Obesity can cause a lot of harm to our body. People with severe obesity are more likely to have other
diseases. These include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and many more.
Combined with obesity, these diseases may lead people to have a lower quality of health. In some cases,
these can lead to disability or early death.
Almost one-fifth of the Bangladeshi adult population is overweight, with an increase of 10 percentage
point in the number of overweight or obese people over the past three decades, according to a global
study. Of the 17% of overweight adults in Bangladesh, just 4% were obese, while obesity rates in children
and adolescents remain at about 1.5.
Though the assignment is on obesity and its impact on health, along with these we will also try to know
about types of obesity and causes of obesity a little. I will try to explain mainly how obesity effect our
health and what kind of diseases can be caused by obesity.
1.2. Objective of this assignment:
 Gather information about obesity
 Know the types and developing processes of obesity
 Sort out possible causes and influences of obesity.

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2. What is obesity?
Obesity, also called corpulence or fatness, excessive accumulation of body fat, usually caused by the
consumption of more calories than the body can use. The excess calories are then stored as fat, or adipose
tissue and then causes medical illness.
According to WHO, Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that
presents a risk to health. A crude population measure of obesity is the body mass index (BMI), a person’s
weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of his or her height (in meters). A person with a BMI of 30 or
more is generally considered obese.
Obesity can be measured in different ways. An easy way is to simply step on the scales and compare your
actual weight with your ideal weight.
The most widely used way to measure your weight is to calculate your body mass index (BMI). This is your
weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared.
 If your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, you are over the ideal weight for your height (overweight).
 If your BMI is between 30 and 39.9, you are obese.
 If your BMI is over 40, you are very obese (known as ‘morbidly obese’).
Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive food intake, lack of physical activity, and
genetic susceptibility. A few cases are caused primarily by genes, endocrine disorders, medications, or
mental disorder. The view that obese people eat little yet gain weight due to a slow metabolism is not
medically supported.

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3. Types of Obesity:
Obesity experts can vary different types of obesity but here I am giving six types of obesity according to their
causes.
 Obesity from overeating: This type of obesity is due to bad habits with abuse of sugar and
food. This is the most common type of obesity. If you consume high amounts of energy,
particularly fat and sugars, but do not burn off the energy through exercise and physical
activity, much of the extra energy will be stored by the body as fat.
 Obesity due to stress: This type of obesity is caused by stress, depression and the other
problems. The researchers have proved that when an individual has chronic stress, it
causes the body to release an excess amount of hormone, cortisol, which is essential for
managing energy use and fat storage in the human body. This hormone many encourage
the cravings for fatty or sugary foods and known to increase the appetite.
 Obesity from inactivity: Lack of physical inactivity and exercise is another essential factor
related to obesity. Multiple individuals have jobs that include sitting on the chair the full
day. If you are not active, you do not utilize the energy that the food gives you while eating
and the additional calories are stored as fat. When it is done for a long time, it results in
causing obesity.
 Gluten obesity: This type of obesity usually happens for women who go thought
menopause and men who have hormonal imbalances. Individuals, who have excess
weight in the hips, are due to menopause or hormonal imbalance.
 Metabolic obesity: Peoples who are gaining weight and just their stomach become fat
are in this category. This is a kind of dangerous obesity because can affect the other
organs and causes breathing problems.
 Venous obesity: This type of obesity is usually genetically inherited obesity and mostly
happen during pregnancy and people who have swollen legs.

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4. Reasons of Obesity:
There are several causes of obesity. Eating too much and moving too little is the main cause. Obesity usually
results from a combination of causes and contributing factors:
 Family inheritance and influences: The genes inherit from parents may affect the amount of body
fat you store, and where that fat is distributed. Genetics may also play a role in how body converts
food into energy, how body regulates your appetite and how body burns calories during exercise.
Obesity tends to run in families. That's not just because of the genes they share. Family members
also tend to share similar eating and activity habits.
 Lifestyle choices: Inactivity, unhealthy diet, taking excess amount of liquid calories contribute to
significant weight gain. Lifestyle change can be the only preventable solution for obesity.
 Certain diseases and medication: In some people, obesity can be found to a medical cause. Such
as arthritis, also can lead to decreased activity, which may result in weight gain. Some medications
include antidepressants, anti-seizure medications, diabetes medications, antipsychotic
medications, steroids and beta blockers sometimes cause weight gain in some people.
 Social and economic issues: Social and economic factors are linked to obesity. Avoiding obesity is
difficult if you don't have safe areas to walk or exercise. Similarly, you may not have been taught
healthy ways of cooking, or you may not have access to healthier foods. In addition, the people
you spend time with may influence your weight, you're more likely to develop obesity if you have
friends or relatives with obesity.
 Age: Obesity can occur at any age, even in young children. But as you age, hormonal changes and
a less active lifestyle increase your risk of obesity. In addition, the amount of muscle in your body
tends to decrease with age. Generally, lower muscle mass leads to a decrease in metabolism.
These changes also reduce calorie needs, and can make it harder to keep off excess weight. If you
don't consciously control what you eat and become more physically active as you age, you'll likely
gain weight.
 Pregnancy: Weight gain is common during pregnancy. Some women find this weight difficult to
lose after the baby is born. This weight gain may contribute to the development of obesity in
women.
 Lack of sleep: Not getting enough sleep or getting too much sleep can cause changes in hormones
that increase your appetite. You may also crave foods high in calories and carbohydrates, which
can contribute to weight gain.

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 Stress: Many external factors that affect your mood and well-being may contribute to obesity.
People often seek more high-calorie food when experiencing stressful situations.
 Previous attempts to lose weight: Previous attempts of weight loss followed by rapid weight
regain may contribute to further weight gain. This phenomenon, sometimes called yo-yo dieting,
can slow your metabolism.
5. Impacts of Obesity on Health:
Being obese can have a severe impact on health. Carrying extra fat leads to serious health consequences.
These consequences cause premature death and substantial disability. Which diseases can be caused by
obesity are discussed below:
 Diabetes: Obesity increases the chances of developing the common type of diabetes, type 2
diabetes. In this disease, the body makes enough insulin but the cells in the body have become
resistant to the beneficial action of insulin.
Overeating stresses the membranous network inside of cells called endoplasmic reticulum (ER).
When the ER has more nutrients to process than it can handle, it sends out an alarm signal telling
the cell to reduce down the insulin receptors on the cell surface. This converts to insulin resistance
and to persistently high concentrations of the sugar glucose in the blood -- one of the sure signs
of diabetes.
People affected by obesity or severe obesity are about 10 times more likely to have type 2
diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can nearly double the risk of death. Type 2 diabetes can lead to:
1. Heart disease
2. Stroke
3. Blindness
4. Kidney disease
5. High blood pressure
6. Circulatory and nerve defects
7. Hard-to-heal infections
8. Impotence
9. And more
 Hypertension: Obesity is a major risk factor for hypertension. About 3 out of 4 hypertension cases
are related to obesity.

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When you're obese, your heart has to work harder to pump blood through your body. But all that
extra effort puts stress on your arteries. Your arteries, in turn, resist this flow of blood, causing
your blood pressure to rise.
 Hypoxia:
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), also
known as Pickwickian syndrome, is a condition in
which severely obese people fail to breathe
rapidly or deeply enough, resulting in low oxygen
levels means hypoxia and high blood carbon
dioxide (CO2) levels.
Hypoxia from obesity

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Heart disease: Obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease. Large studies show that the risk for heart disease
increases with obesity. People with severe obesity are at a higher risk for coronary artery disease. This means
they have a higher risk of a heart attack.
Obesity makes you more likely to have high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels, which are
risk factors for heart disease and strokes.
 Respiratory disorder: People with obesity have reduced lung capacity. These people are at higher
risk for respiratory infections. They are more likely to have asthma and other respiratory
disorders. Asthma has been shown to be three to four times more common among people with
obesity.
Obesity causes mechanical compression of the diaphragm, lungs, and chest cavity, which can lead
to restrictive pulmonary damage. Furthermore, excess fat decreases total respiratory system
compliance, increases pulmonary resistance, and reduces respiratory muscle strength.
 Cancer: The link between obesity and cancer risk is clear. Research shows that excess body fat
increases your risk for several cancers, including colorectal, post-menopausal breast, uterine,
esophageal, kidney and pancreatic cancers.
Obesity
Volume of blood increased
Abnormally high output of blood
Heart chamber stretch and expand
Congestive heart failure
Thickens heart muscle of left
ventricle

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Experts believe it’s largely due to the inflammation caused by visceral fat – the fat that surrounds
your vital organs.
“The problem with excessive visceral fat is that it affects certain processes in your body. This
includes how your body manages hormones, like insulin and estrogen,” says Karen Basen-
Engquist, Ph.D., professor in Behavioral Science at MD Anderson.
“All of this can lead to an increased cancer risk by affecting how and when cells divide and die,”
she says.
Obesity is believed to cause up to 90,000 cancer deaths per year. As body mass index (BMI)
increases, so does your risk of cancer and death from cancer. These cancers include:
Endometrial cancer
Cervical cancer
Ovarian cancer
Postmenopausal breast cancer
Colorectal cancer
Esophageal cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Gallbladder cancer
Liver cancer
Kidney cancer
Thyroid cancer
Prostate cancer
For people with severe obesity, the death rate increases for all types of cancer. The death rate is
52 percent higher for men and 62 percent higher for women.
 Cerebrovascular disease (Stroke): Being obese can greatly increase your
chances of having a stroke. Because of excess fat in the body, inflammation is
likely to occur, which causes poor blood flow and potential blockage and these
causes stroke.
Obesity puts a strain on your whole circulatory system. This strain increases
your risk for stroke. Obesity can lead to other stroke risk factors. Stroke risk
factors include heart disease, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, lipid
abnormalities, type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea.

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 Kidney disease: Kidney disease is more likely to develop in obese people including in those with
diabetes and hypertension. As an indirect cause, obesity increases the risk of the major chronic
kidney disease risk factors – type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. A direct cause would be when
the kidneys have to work harder, filtering above the normal level, called hyper filtration, to meet
the metabolic demands of the increased body mass index (BMI) in individuals affected by obesity.
This increase in normal function is also associated with a higher risk of developing CKD in the long-
term. There is also high risk of End Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) and Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) in
obese people
 Liver disease: Obesity is the major cause for fatty liver and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Most
people with severe obesity have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease can cause
scarring of the liver, resulting in worsened liver function, and this can lead to cirrhosis and liver
failure.
Obesity
Too much fat build up
Fatty liver tissue inflammation
Liver cells damage
Nonalcoholic fatty liver
disease

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 Bone/Joint Damage: Obesity frequently contributes to soft tissue damage and osteoarthritis, a
progressive disease of the joints. The impact of obesity is especially felt in osteoarthritis of the hip
and knee joints. Every pound of body weight places four to six pounds of pressure on each knee
joint.
Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder with symptoms in the hands, knees, hips, back,
and neck. Being obese increases the load placed on the joints such as the knee, which increases
stress and could possibly accelerate the breakdown of cartilage.
 Digestive Problem: Obesity has been associated with a higher risk of gastroesophageal reflux
disease (GERD). GERD occurs when stomach acid leaks into the esophagus. In addition, obesity
increases the risk of developing gallstones. This is when bile builds up and hardens in the
gallbladder.
 Alzheimer’s disease: Studies find that obesity during middle-age may contribute to conditions
that increase the risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
 Suicide: Studies have shown a correlation between severe obesity and major depressive disorder.
Physical and social discrimination issues surrounding obesity may contribute to this depression.
Studies are mixed on whether obesity is associated with higher suicide rates. However, most
studies seem to suggest lower rates of suicide in people with obesity.

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 Sleep apnea: People with obesity are more likely to have sleep apnea, a potentially serious
disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep.
 Covid-19: It is a viral disease caused by corona virus. Obesity increases the risk of respiratory
failure, alters the immune system and may cause chronic inflammation that can rapidly escalate
out of control with coronavirus infection.
An increasing number of reports have linked obesity to coronavirus mortality, and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now list severe obesity as a risk factor for severe COVID-19.
The CDC define severe obesity as having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above.
6. Conclusion:
Obesity as a disease has a wide range of infectious areas in human bodies as already it is mentioned that obesity
is caused by excess fat consumption in human body. From the above discussion it can be concluded that the
rate of increase of obese persons is quite alarming for world and especially for Bangladesh as well. Mostly
common Diabetes type 2 and hypertension are caused by obesity. It was also observed that heart disease,
respiratory disorder, stroke kind of illness also sourced from obesity. Obesity also can cause gastroesophageal
reflux, kidney disease with a large scale. On the top most mental stress is heavily increasing for obesity which
even tends people to suicide like occurrences. Finally the entire discussion can be settled as below diagram:
where many risk factors are presented together.

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References:
1. https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/6-facts-on-obesity
2. https://www.icddrb.org/dmdocuments/Bangladesh%20obesity%20release.pdf
3. Debasis Bagchi, Harry G. Preuss - Obesity_ Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Prevention-CRC
Press (2007)
4. https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=39840
5. Landsberg, Lewis, et al. "Obesity‐related hypertension: Pathogenesis, cardiovascular risk, and
treatment—A position paper of the “The Obesity Society and the American Society of
Hypertension." Obesity 21.1 (2013): 8-24.
6. https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/focused-on-health/how-does-obesity-cause-
cancer.h27Z1591413.html#:~:text=The%20link%20between%20obesity%20and%20cancer%20ri
sk%20is%20clear.,being%20obese%20increases%20that%20risk.
7. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/obesity-weight-and-
cancer/does-obesity-cause-cancer
8. http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=7F34603A3B6FC4C7E8A631342574FA9A
9. https://www.worldkidneyday.org/facts/topics/obesity-kidney-disease/
10. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/15/obesity-is-a-major-risk-factor-for-
dying-of-covid-19-we-need-to-take-it-more-seriously