According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least one in three of the world’s adult population is overweight. It is also estimated that there are over 40 million children under age five who are overweight.

But, do you know that being overweight or carrying extra fat can lead to serious health problems?

SMILES is here to explain the health risks associated with overweight and how can weight loss helps.

Overweight is defined as weight that is above the required BMI (25 to 29.9) levels. People who have excess fat in the body are at increased risk of many serious health conditions. Most importantly, being overweight during pregnancy can have a major impact on the health of both the mother and the baby.

SMILES have listed 6 health risks of being overweight. Many of these conditions cause long–term suffering.

It is a disease in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal. However, most people with diabetes are overweight. This may be due to extra fat causes insulin resistance. When a body makes insulin, the cells can’t use it properly to get glucose out of the blood, and the blood sugar gets elevated.

High blood sugar can lead to heart problems, kidney failure, nerve damage, and blindness. Losing weight, eating a balanced diet and getting physically active can help control blood sugar levels and prevent complications.

Blood pressure is how hard your blood pushes against your artery walls. Hypertension or high blood pressure usually has no symptoms but it may cause serious health problems such as heart diseases and stroke.

When you are overweight and the body is large, your heart needs to pump hard to supply blood to all your cells. Weight loss or getting your body close to normal BMI range may greatly lower high blood pressure.

It is a condition in which a person has starts and stops in breathing during sleep. A person with sleep apnea may suffer from loud snoring, daytime sleepiness, and unrefreshing sleep.

A person who is overweight may have excess fat stored around the neck that makes the airway smaller. A smaller airway can make breathing difficult or loud and breathing may also stop for shorter periods of time. Weight loss help decrease neck size and usually improve sleep apnea.

It is the most common form of arthritis that causes pain and stiffness in the joints. It often occurs when the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of your bones wears down over time.

Being overweight is one of the risk factors for osteoarthritis as extra weight may place extra pressure on joints and cartilage. If you have Osteoarthritis, losing weight and staying physically active help improve your symptoms.

It is also known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a condition in which fat builds up in your liver. This disease may lead to severe liver damage, cirrhosis (scar tissue), or even liver failure.

The actual cause of fatty liver is not known, but it mostly affects people who are overweight and obese. Lowering your body to a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet, & regular exercise help get rid of fatty liver.

Cancer occurs when cells in one part of the body grow abnormally or out of control. These cancerous cells sometimes spread to the other parts of the body such as breast, liver, colon, and kidney, etc.

Gaining weight increases the risk of several cancers. It is unknown how excess weight increases cancer risk, but this may be due to fat cells release hormones that affect cell growth. Avoiding weight gain by healthy eating and physical activity lower cancers risk.

The risk of health problems starts when a person is slightly overweight, and the risk increases as the person become more and more overweight.

Are you overweight? Or need more information about other health problems associated with overweight? then take the second opinion from the expert doctors in Bangalore.