Learn More About Obesity
What is obesity?
Obesity is a term used to describe body weight that is much greater than what is considered healthy. If you are obese, you have a much higher ratio of body fat than lean muscle mass. Generally, anyone more than 100 pounds overweight is considered morbidly obese.
What causes obesity?
When you take in more calories than you burn off, you gain weight. How and what you eat, how active you are, and other things affect how your body uses calories and whether you gain weight. The body stores unused calories as fat.
Obesity can be the result of:
- Eating more food than the body can use
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Not getting enough exercise
Medical problems frequently associated with untreated obesity and morbid obesity include:
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Certain cancers, including breast and colon
- Depression
- Osteoarthritis
Treatment
A combination of calorie restriction and exercise appears to be more effective rather than either one alone. Sticking to a weight reduction program is difficult and requires a lot of support from family and friends.
Even modest weight loss can improve your health. It is important to work with your health care provider or dietitian to develop a plan that is best for you. For most people weight can be lost by eating a healthier diet, exercising more, and adopting new behaviors, such as keeping a food diary, avoiding food triggers, and thinking positively.
Work with your doctor to develop a plan that will work for you. Focus on health, not diets. Little steps mean a lot. Losing just 10 pounds can make a difference in your health.
Participate and Take Control
If you have been living with obesity, there are healthy choices you can make on a daily basis to help manage your condition. Learn to identify and act on the risk factors you can control for obesity. Help is available for BCBSNM members — call toll-free 1-866-252-8106 for more information about our disease management programs.
Tools and Information
- Obesity information via the Personal Health Manager: BCBSNM members can log in to Blue Access for Members to access extensive information on obesity.
- Obesity information on other health-related Web sites*:
*We do our best to ensure that the information on the other health-related Web sites listed above is useful, but can't be responsible for the content of those sites or any information you may take from them (please read our legal disclaimer). When you click on a choice above, it will open in a new window so that you can explore that site without having to leave here. When you are through visiting the other site, you can close that window and return to the BCBSNM site.
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