RIASSUNTO
Abstract
Obesity is the number one threat to workers' health in the 21st century. It is a contributing factor in many types of cancer and its sequelae make it the top culprit of employee disability. This paper offers medical research findings on appropriate diet and exercise regimens to ameliorate obesity and maintain appropriate body weight on a long-term basis.
Introduction
Obesity is the number one threat to workers' health in the 21st century. Its various sequelae make it the top culprit of employee disability. Specifically, it contributes to cancer of the breast, colon, prostate, esophagus, rectum, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, bile duct, uterus, cervix, and ovaries. It is associated, directly and indirectly, with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, diabetes, gallstones, snoring/sleep apnea, infertility, decreased sex drive, stroke, arthritis, kidney failure, etc.
While one can recognize obesity with a glance, the formal medical definition is in the body mass index (BMI), which is Weight (Kg)/Height[2] (M[2]). BMI above 30 is obese; between 25 and 30 is overweight. Extreme (or morbid) obesity begins with BMI at 45 and above. Large-scale epidemiological studies have shown that most chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease begin to occur at BMI above 25, which is why obesity is the fundamental threat to longevity and good health. Laboratory animal studies have shown that life span can be prolonged by 40% simply by putting animals on an ultra-low caloric or near starvation diet.
To achieve a lifetime of health and fitness, it takes commitment and one has to work at it daily. To begin, one has to forget about any quick weight-loss schemes and special diet plans. Rapid weight loss is usually temporary and unsustainable in the long term. Special diets or other deprivation schemes could achieve short-term weight loss; however, longer-term food deprivation and hunger can psychologically overwhelm dieters and make adherence to such weight loss plans difficult. The best strategy appears to be the one that starts with a thorough understanding of proper nutrition and dietary intake, as well as regular exercise.
Regular Exercise
Dieting without a concomitant exercise program is doomed to fail in the long run.
When I began my medical practice in a multispecialty clinic, one day I was struck by what a patient taught me. I was doing a pre-employment examination on a male 39 year-old who was quite fit, even muscular, but he had excess skin folds draping down his abdomen. I asked him what happened. He said that he was very obese and one day he just started walking. Soon he changed his life style; the half an hour walk stretched to an hour or more. Gradually he lost 60 pounds and had remained fit ever since. I heard similar stories from many patients who changed their life style and just started walking. They used no fancy gyms nor did they rely on exotic dietary plans.
In the 1980s when Jane Fonda started the aerobic exercise craze, doctors told patients that you had to get your heart rate up and maintain it for at least 20 minutes to be beneficial. Other non-aerobic exercises such as weight lifting were frowned upon.