Aesthetic considerations are often sufficient to make many people aware of the dangers of obesity and become consequently anxious to avoid it. The obese person is often more aware of these considerations and may experience considerable frustration, guilt and unhappiness if they are unable to lose weight when desired.
**
Often a vicious circle is then set up with the resultant anxiety literally feeding any psychological problems which may have contributed to the obesity in the first instance.
**
Poor self image, avoidance of embarrassing social contact, depression, inability to express personal choice in clothes or activities and introspective destruction may all contribute to a rather unhappy situation.
@
MECHANICAL DISABILITY
**
The structure of the human skeleton is, unfortunately, not well adapted to carry an extra load, and the obese person therefore tends to develop problems associated with the extra weight. These include flat feet, osteoarthritis of the weight bearing joints such as the knees, hips and lumbar spine together with any problems associated with the consequent bad posture.
**
The abdominal muscles and those in the legs are infiltrated with fat, and consequently impairing their normal action giving rise to an increased incidence of abdominal hernias and varicose veins. There also appears to be an increased incidence of hiatus hernia in the obese person.
**
Fat deposition around the diaphragm and in the chest interferes with the mechanics of breathing and predisposes to bronchitis and other respiratory problems.
@
METABOLIC
**
A number of metabolic diseases are associated with obesity. Although the majority of fat people manage to escape diabetes, when it arises in middle life it occurs most commonly in association with obesity. The excessive intake of carbohydrate appears to precipitate a problem which may have otherwise remained potential rather than real.
**
There is often a raised level of cholesterol in the blood. This leads to deposition in the arteries giving rise to atherosclerosis and also to the formation of gall stones in the gall bladder, cholelithiasis.
**
Gout, although usually rare, also tends to afflict the obese more than usual.
@
CARDIOVASCULAR
**
High blood pressure is more common in obese people than those of normal weight. It is often mild, however, requiring little treatment, if any.
**
The work of the heart is increased by the extra effort of movement, and together with the narrowing of the arteries by deposition of the high cholesterol found in obese people and the high blood pressure, the heart may be embarrassed to an unacceptable degree.
**
There is therefore a real liability to angina pectoris, heart attacks and cardiac failure in the obese person.
**
The exceptional incidence of varicose veins completes the rather threatening picture.
@
SKIN
**
Fat is deposited to excess under the skin predisposing to skin infection in the obese. This is most commonly found in the moist areas such as under the arms, under the breasts, in the groins and on the thighs. There is an increase in perspiration which, in the above areas, combines with chafing to produce the often found intertrigo.
@
ACCIDENTS
**
Obese people are often, not always, slow and ungainly in their movement making them more liable to accidents and injuries which a more agile person may avoid.
**
At work they may have more difficulty in avoiding moving machinery whilst in the street cannot quickly escape moving traffic having to be far more careful where speedy movement is called for.
**
Agility and nimble movement is often compromised in simple everyday things such as coping with a cat or a household dog. These problems are accentuated with advancing years and, combined with the increased incidence of joint problems produce a higher accident rate than in the less heavy individual.
@
LIFE EXPECTANCY
**
It is altogether not surprising to find that obese people are statistically poor risks from the standpoint of life insurance.
**
The statistics of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. have shown that for a man of 45, an increase of 25 lbs. above standard weight reduces his life expectancy by 25% !
**
In other words he is likely to die at the age of 60 when otherwise he might have lived to 80 had he not been obese.
**
The statistics for women, although still increased, are somewhat less.
