America: Obesity, Stupidity and Consumerism (George Carlin)
What are the effects of obesity?
Patient comments:
If you think you are overweight, you should try hard to reduce your body weight because many overweight people have other risk factors, such as high blood pressure, abnormal blood cholesterol, diabetes, etc. But do it the right way, through controlling your diet and exercising – don’t fall for the diet pills and other “lose weight fast!” schemes you see on TV.
Get your doctor or a nutritionist involved in your weight loss. When you reduce your body weight by eating healthy foods and exercising properly, other coronary risk factors can be markedly improved or even eliminated.
By definition, obesity means 30% extra weight, and about 60% of American people are obese. Obesity is one of the major coronary risk factors. Many obese people have high BP (hypertension), elevated blood cholesterol levels, and diabetes, and they have sedentary lifestyles.
Obesity also causes high triglyceride levels and low HDL cholesterol.
Abdominal obesity (fat in the abdominal area, called central-torso obesity or the “beer belly”) is a particularly strong coronary risk factor. Obese people with waist lines more than 36 inches and high triglyceride levels are at high risk for developing coronary artery disease within 5 years. In addition, obesity in children is a greater risk for future coronary artery disease than a family history of coronary artery disease alone.
