Obesity can lead to a variety of serious illnesses; weight loss should be approached differently for men and women.

What health problems and troubles does obesity cause?

Weight loss is no longer just about making your body look more attractive. A World Health Organization survey indicates that one in four people on Earth is obese. The average obesity rate in the United States has reached 40%, while in China, the obesity rate among children is 8.1%, with chubby kids everywhere, and the adult obesity rate is 22.8%... China's obese population accounts for more than one-fifth of the world's obese population.

The World Health Organization defines obesity as "a condition in which body fat exceeds the body's normal physiological needs or accumulates excessively to the point of endangering health." Obesity is no longer just a matter of being overweight and unattractive; the many health risks it brings ultimately lead to increased mortality rates. Therefore, the World Health Organization considers obesity a chronic disease.

Obesity can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers selected 392 elderly individuals over their seventies and conducted an 18-year follow-up study, performing brain scans on them every five years. The scans revealed that obese individuals had 8% less brain tissue than those of normal weight! Furthermore, the greater the excess weight, the more severe the brain degeneration.

Why does this happen? The answer is: obesity causes the brain to shrink in the same areas that Alzheimer's disease affects.

The frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are key areas for planning and memory, and obese individuals show significant loss of brain tissue in these areas. Furthermore, obese individuals also experience corresponding losses in the anterior cingulate cortex (responsible for attention and executive function), the hippocampus (responsible for long-term memory), and the basal ganglia (responsible for motor function), making them prone to memory impairment, aphasia, apraxia, executive dysfunction, and personality and behavioral changes.

American neuroscientist Paul Thompson points out: "Obesity accelerates the aging of the brain; the brains of obese people appear to be 16 years older than those of lean people."

Obesity can easily lead to cancer.

A study by the World Cancer Research Fund has found that the link between diet, weight, and cancer is far greater than people imagine. A five-year study of 7,000 cancer causes worldwide revealed that obesity increases the incidence of six types of cancer: esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, rectal cancer, uterine cancer, kidney cancer, and menopausal breast cancer. Compared to men and women of normal weight, obese men and women are 52% and 62% more likely to die from cancer, respectively.

Obesity can trigger cancer in many ways, but the most important factor is that fat affects the body's hormonal balance: the estrogen released by fat cells increases the probability of women developing breast cancer; excessive abdominal fat leads to elevated levels of human growth hormone, increasing the risk of esophageal cancer.

Obesity causes joint disease

Obesity poses a significant challenge to human joints: more than a quarter of people in China with osteoarthritis are obese. Osteoarthritis caused by adult obesity commonly affects the bony joints of the knees, spine, and feet, and is often accompanied by symptoms such as pain, stiffness, and joint deformities.

Obesity increases the burden on joint surfaces, alters body posture, gait, and movement patterns, thereby accelerating joint wear and aging.

Lower back and leg pain is another common symptom caused by obesity. Obesity increases abdominal weight, causing the body's center of gravity to shift forward, resulting in forward tilting and curvature of the pelvis and lumbar spine, uneven stress on the intervertebral discs, and stimulation of the spinal nerve endings.

Obesity in people over 50 years of age increases the risk of fractures.

Obesity also increases the risk of other diseases.

In addition, obesity can increase the incidence of other diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and gout.

The dangers of excess abdominal fat

Excess abdominal fat (commonly known as a "beer belly") not only detracts from one's appearance but also poses numerous health risks, which become even more dangerous if left unchecked. Men are more prone to abdominal fat accumulation than women.

Elevated blood sugar and blood lipid levels: Abdominal fat accumulation can affect changes in free fatty acids in the body and reduce insulin sensitivity, making it easy for blood sugar and blood lipid levels to rise, leading to arteriosclerosis, and in severe cases, coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Increased risk of coronary heart disease: Studies have found that the larger the belly, the greater the increase in health risk factors, and the higher the probability of developing coronary heart disease compared to people of normal weight. In addition, it increases the workload on the heart, thus increasing the likelihood of heart attacks.

Obesity can also affect a person's appearance.

Besides affecting health, the most direct impact of obesity is, of course, on a person's appearance, such as looks and body shape. Furthermore, obesity damages the skin; coupled with hormonal changes, the skin is more prone to pigmentation, roughness, thickening, and increased wrinkles. It also has some impact on employment and mate selection.

Controlling body fat and weight loss methods differ between men and women.

Apple-shaped obesity and pear-shaped obesity

Due to differences in innate body structure and lifestyle habits, obesity also presents as a gender difference: Generally, men (especially middle-aged men) are more prone to "apple-shaped obesity": excessive fat in the waist and abdomen (waist circumference exceeding 85cm), resembling an apple; while women (adults) are more prone to "pear-shaped obesity": excessive fat in the buttocks and thighs, that is, fat is mainly deposited in the buttocks and upper thighs, with the upper body not fat and the lower body fat, making the whole body look like a pear.

Weight loss should be differentiated between men and women.

Since men and women experience different types of obesity, and due to differences in their physical structures, their approaches to weight loss should differ: men can prevent abdominal fat accumulation by balancing their diet (reducing the intake of fatty foods and increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables), increasing exercise, and burning calories; while women should focus on regulating the secretion of estrogen and the activity of fat metabolism enzymes to restore them to a normal physiological state.

Weight loss through exercise should also be tailored to men and women.

Exercise is an important way to lose weight, but there are differences between men and women: men should focus on strength training to develop muscles in different parts of the body in a coordinated, symmetrical and balanced way. They can choose exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, dumbbells, and squats. Women need to focus on training their chest, abdominal and back muscles. They can choose aerobics, resistance band exercises, medicine ball exercises, etc.

Controlling calorie intake is also a major task in weight loss.

Besides excessive fat intake leading to obesity, calorie intake is also a major factor. The daily calorie requirement of the human body is relatively stable, varying depending on gender, age, activity level, and other factors.

Daily calorie intake for normal people

A normal person's daily calorie intake should be between 1800 and 2600 kcal (7524 to 10868 kJ). Exceeding this amount can easily lead to the conversion of calories into fat, increasing the risk of obesity. Therefore, controlling calorie intake is an important task in weight management and weight loss.

Calculate calorie requirements based on activity level

We categorize a person's daily activity level into four levels: bed rest, light physical activity, moderate physical activity, and heavy physical activity, each with different calorie requirements. Of course, in addition to activity level, a person's daily calorie intake also needs to consider their BMI (as mentioned earlier).

The Chinese Nutrition Society's reference standards for activity levels:

Light physical activity: This includes sedentary activities such as office workers, teachers, and ticket sellers.

Medium physical activity: such as students' daily activities, skilled workers, motor vehicle drivers, etc.

Heavy physical activities: such as sports, logging, mining, etc.

Let's take a person who is 175cm tall, weighs 80kg, and works as a teacher as an example:

Standard weight: 175 - 105 = 70 kg

BMI: 80 ÷ 1.75² = 26.1 (Overweight)

Daily calorie requirement: 80 × (20～25) = 1600～2000 kcal (6688～8360 kJ)