The grossly overweight, also known as the obese, are dealing with some very serious health problems. These are problems that can kill them. They must be educated about these issues and how they can avoid them. And they must learn that procedures such as the Orbera gastric balloon don’t just offer an easy way out, they are serious procedures that have various potential side effects.
Of course, all of that is easier said than done. Most of us know that we have to change our diet and levels of activity if we want to become healthy, or stay healthy. Yet, most of the walking with do is in grocery store isles to find the easiest, quickest, cheapest, most processed, and unhealthiest meal around. In fact, we now do most of that shopping online!
What If We Don’t Deal with It?
Some scientists suggest that the reason why we are becoming so obese is because we are going through a period of plentitude. There are exceptions, but by and large, we have more food and more disposable income than ever before in the history of mankind. We have gone through such periods before, such as during the Rubens’ era, when it was considered beautiful for women to be overweight. And, throughout history, the rich have been overweight due to the various feasts they would indulge in.
What these scientists suggest is that we will naturally come to a point again where we go through a period of scarcity, and the obesity epidemic will resolve itself. Others, however, fear that this could quite literally spell the end of mankind. If we are to hit a period of scarcity, it would mean some of the world’s largest industries, which are the pharmaceutical, marketing, cosmetic, fast food, and weight loss industries, would go bust as well. It is far more likely, therefore, that humans are being systematically killed. Because obesity will kill you.
How Will Obesity Kill You?
Obesity itself won’t kill you. But when you are obese, your body starts to fail. This means there is a wealth of conditions that you can, and most likely will, develop, most of them fatal. These conditions include:
- Coronary heart disease
- Coronary heart failure
- Strokes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Type 2 diabetes
- Depression
- Cancer
- Osteoarthritis
Once you have one or more of these comorbid disorders, your quality of life will be greatly reduced. You will be trapped in a vicious cycle as well, because you will become even less inactive, which means you will put even more weigh one, which means you will be even more unhealthy, and so on.
Not dealing with obesity is not an option. We cannot simply watch ourselves, our friends, families, and communities, literally eat themselves to death in the hopes that the next generation will do better. We already know the next generation won’t do better, as our children are becoming increasingly obese as well. The time to act, and the time to change, is now.