Why should being obese matter to me?
The World Health Organisation considers
someone obese if they have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above.
It estimates that at least 300 million of us are now obese.
What is my BMI?
Over 40 serious health conditions are linked to obesity
including:
- High blood pressure, high cholesterol,
coronary heart disease, deep vein thrombosis, varicose veins.
- Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance,
polycystic ovarian syndrome, infertility, breast cancer.
- Breathlessness, obstructive sleep
apnoea.
- Gallstones, hiatus hernia, fatty liver, colon
cancer.
- Arthritis, back pain.
- Stress incontinence.
- Depression, low self-esteem, binge eating
disorder. (National Obesity Forum 2008)
- Someone dies from an obesity-related illness
in England every 17 minutes. (Tackling Obesity In England,
2001)
- Being obese can be expected to shorten your
life expectancy by, on average, nine years. (Tackling
Obesity In England, 2001)
- Obese women are 13 times more likely to
develop type 2 diabetes than non-obese women. Obese men are 5 times
more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-obese men. (The
Information Centre – NHS Statistics on obesity, physical education
and diet: England 2006)
- Obesity will soon surpass smoking as the
biggest cause of premature loss of life. (House of Commons
2004)
Is your BMI 25 or above?
To join LighterLife
contact the LighterLife Weight-Management
Counsellor for your area.
What is my BMI?
Thanks to LighterLife, I lost a dress size a
month. Brilliant!
Patricia (read
my story)
Maintained since August 05
Size was: 24 now: 10/12