The information from the Croatian Institute for Public Health of 2008 indicate that 63% of men and 54% of women are overweight while 20% of men and women are obese. More worrying fact is the continuous growing number of overweight children. Today in Croatia, 12% of children (of elementary school) are overweight and it is assumed that 5% of them are obese, a number that can’t surprise us as ‘cause only 31% of children aged 11 to 15 are active in physical activities. In global terms, Croatia is one of the “obese nations”, and in this way, we are “aligned with Europe”. In Europe, we’re on the 5th place, We follow Malta, Greece, Turkey and England. By the overweight, Croatian women are on the 3rd, while the Croatian men on the 4th place. In comparison with 194 countries we’re on the 71st place.
From the information that indicate the continuous increase of the body weight of Croatian citizens (especially after the 1st Congress about obesity in 2002 in Rabac)we can assume that the activities that have been under taken so far in the segment of the improvement of the life quality and of the decrease of the number of overweight people didn’t give effective results, or they have given some modest results that couldn’t be noticed in the general percentage.
What is obesity?
The obesity is the state of excessive fat accumulation in the body’s fat cells. The reasons of obesity are varied, but they’re always related to the food.
How does the body use the food?
The organism use the food for:
- structuring material for individual fabrics,
- energy source for the maintenance of vital functions and work,
- source of vitamins and elements necessary for undisturbed functioning.
To be sure about the necessary amount of food accomplished with the nutrition process, digesting the food to its basic ingredients (sugars, fatty acids and amino acids) that can be taken with the digestive tract in the food.
What is the destiny of the nutrient particles in the blood?
With the introduction of the nutrient particles in the blood, there were activated a series of complicated control system (as a thermostats) with a duty to maintenance the concentration of these particles in the blood. There are 2 control systems for the weight:
- sugar control system that regulates the blood sugar levels by regulating the hormone of insulin from the pancreas. Thanks to this hormone, the glucose (sugar) goes to the musculature cells (as an energetic material), to the liver (as a preservative material) and the rest goes to the fat cells to maintain the normal blood sugar concentration of about 5 mml/l,
- the “mind-brain” control system and the “fat-appetite” subsystem are activated when the sugar is in excess with the influence of the insulin and the biochemical process is transformed in fats – triglycerides, and they are established in the fat cells which swell and cause the weight gain.
How do the control systems collapse?
In the case of the congestion of the control system over a longer period (usually over several years), their functioning weakens and the psychological distortions take place on the organism – appear the disease. In this case, most of the combination of obesity arises, such as chronic diseases with a series of primary and secondary complications in organic systems important for the body.
What are the medical interventions for obesity?
As a base of the influence of the regulation of body weight, it is suggested to be on a diet and to do some physical activities. If this don’t show results, then you can try drugs that affect the digestive system (the reduction of the fat absorption) or the brain (the decreased of the hunger). These kind of interventions are limited with time ( up to 3 months).
There is a possibility of the surgical interventions by which is emitted the bypass in the gastrointestinal tract or reducing the volume of stomach.
The reduction of the subcutaneous fatty tissue with liposuction is not considered a medical intervention bu an aesthetic intervention.
There is growing danger of cause -effect diseases caused by the obesity, which strongly damage the quality of life. For example, after the age of 20, body weight increases from 3 to 4 kilograms every 10 years, what partially causes the slow down of the metabolism by 1% every year. This is also an effect of the bad habits, the excessive consumption of food, to many sweets and sweet drinks and the missing physical activities.
The solution must be find with a psychological approach of the behavior change to achieve and maintain healthy weight ‘cause the researches show that 75% of people use food as a help in the confrontation with the problems. Important is to find the problem that is causing the disturbs to the person and help in the confrontation with it in a mature manner, without using food for the consolation. When we’re hungry, we have to understand if it is a physiological hunger of the body or we are hungry ‘cause we feel empty inside ourselves.
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