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Weight Management: Fast Facts


Reviewed By: Susan Janoff, MS RD LD/N

  • Weight and obesity are major factors in determining a person's overall health.

  • Obesity is a condition in which a person has a body mass index of 30 or greater.

  • Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death.

  • People who carry excess weight are prone to a number of health conditions, including coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.

  • Several factors contribute to excessive weight gain or obesity.

  • At its essence, weight gain is the result of consuming more calories than are burned through day-to-day activities that require energy.

  • Excess calories in a person's body are stored as fat.

  • While women are far less likely than men to be overweight, the genders share roughly equal rates of obesity.

  • There are many factors to successful weight management and a healthy diet is only one component.

  • Temporary, restrictive diets followed by a return to regular eating habits and routines do not work.

  • It is important to design a long-term, healthy-eating and healthy-living plan that fits your individual goals and lifestyle.

  • Experts recommend a gradual and systematic program of weight loss, with a typical goal of losing 10 percent of weight within a six-month period.

  • Changes to your long-term diet and lifestyle should be maintained and built upon.

  • Setting realistic goals is an important step toward healthy living and managing weight successfully.

  • Changes in diet, exercise patterns and lifestyle can all significantly reduce the risk of health disorders associated with obesity.

  • In rare cases, people may require medications or surgery to help bring their weight under control.

 

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