Why lose weight?
There are many reasons way a person should care about their weight. It affects adult and children in the short term and long term.
Short-term:
· Being overweight makes you tired. When parents are tired they cannot keep up with their children.
· If the child is obese it is hard to play with their friends and participate in activities that they like to do.
· Children are teased about their weight and it causes self-esteem issues now and later in life. It is the same for adults.
· Clothes are too tight and make it hard to wear the latest fashions.
Long-term consequences are that being overweight or obese causes health problems that can greatly affect the way one can interact and participate in family life. These long-term consequences can even be deadly! Research has shown that as weight increases to reach the levels of overweight and obesity there is a greater ricks in contracting:
· Coronary heart disease
· type 2 diabetes
· cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
· hypertension (high blood pressure)
· high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides
· stroke
· liver and gallbladder disease
· sleep apnea and respiratory problems
· osteoarthritis
· gynecological problems such as abnormal menses, infertility
· higher risk of complications during pregnancy such as hypertensive diagnoses and gestational diabetes, and delivery complications such as higher rates of caesarean sections and prolonged time of delivery.
· (Overweight and obesity, 2010).
These health issues cause much stress on a family. It also takes a toll on their finances. Health issues are not cheap and if the family is not adequately covered by insurance it will be hard to make those payments.
