Obesity Management Centre
Obesity Management Centre
There is a rapid rise in people who are overweight or obese. Punya Hospital has planned for an exclusive team of Doctors in specialties to manage Obese patients and their related complications. Our Dietary specialist is well trained who counsels’ about the Diet management of our entire Obese patient. Preliminary obesity Physician evaluates the patients about their physical &mental health and advices them accordingly.
What Is Obesity?
There is a rapid rise in people who are overweight or obese. Punya Hospital has planned for an exclusive team of Doctors in specialties to manage Obese patients and their related complications. Our Dietary specialist is well trained who counsels’ about the Diet management of our entire Obese patient. Preliminary obesity Physician evaluates the patients about their physical &mental health and advices them accordingly.
Common Causes Of Obesity
When the intake of calories through the food one person eats is greater than the calories burnt through his activities, the excess calories remaining are converted to fat and the person starts to gain weight. Causes of obesity can be a combination of factors which are described below.
- Pregnancy: Naturally women gain weight during pregnancy. But some women find it difficult to lose the weight after the baby is born.
- Medical problems: At times obesity is caused as a result of some diseases like Crushing’s syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome etc. Diseases like arthritis leads to decreased activity leading to increase in weight.
- Inactivity: Persons who are lazy and not engaging in any activity are more prone to obesity.
- Lack of sleep: Lack of sleep can change your hormone levels. This may lead to craving for food that are high in calorie value and carbohydrates which may contribute to increase in weight.
- In addition to the above, obesity is usually caused as a result of a combination of contributing factors which include the following.
- Genetics: Genes are found to have a profound role in deciding the amount of fat your body stores and distributing that fat to different parts of the body. Genetics also plays a vital role in converting food into energy and in burning calories in activities like exercises.
- Family lifestyle: Obesity runs in families. Family members usually have the same eating habits. If either or both of your parents are obese there is every possibility that you will also become obese.
- Age: Obesity is not an age dependant condition. But as a person ages, is activity level decreases, paving way for obesity. The decrease in muscular tissues in older ages changes the metabolism and decreases the need for more calories.
- Social and economic conditions: There are some social and economic conditions that may lead to obesity. This includes improper practices followed in cooking, lack of money for buying healthy food, and the company of people in which you spend time. A person who has close friends and relatives who are obese are more likely to become obese.
Obesity Management
Managing obesity involves a very comprehensive approach.It involves medical therapies,medications,behavioural training,diet scheduling,exercise and workout sessions.Keeping the patient motivated and enthusiastic in overcoming his problem is quite a big deal. Other specialists like Orthopedician –for arthritis, Gastroenterologists- for Reflux Disease, Pulmonologist breathing difficulties, Cardiologist- for Heart related problems are part of the team with their required inputs.
Dietary Changes
The knowledge that obesity of a person is caused by the increased intake of calories than that is needed to carry out the biological functions of the body and the everyday activity of the person is very important if a person wants to reduce his abnormal body weight and return to normalcy. The fact that calorie values of foods like milk, milk products, egg, fast food, confectionaries etc are very higher compared to calorie value of food consisting of vegetables, fruits, homemade food etc plays a key role in the weight reduction activities of obese persons.
It is always very important to target your plan at a moderate achievement over a long period of time than immediate reduction of weight within a very shorter time gap. Planning to reduce 10 % of body weight during a period of 6 months or one year will be a moderate and easily achievable aim. Counseling from your family health care provided will be highly beneficial in developing skills to control and change overeating habits caused due to depression, loneliness, boredom etc.
People, who want to have a control over the quantity and quality of food they eat, can keep a journal that will be useful in finding out the calories consumed through food every day. If you have set your goals about your calorie intakes in consultation with a physician this journal will help you very much to control your food intake as per the limits prescribed in the diet plan.
One important thing which everyone who undergo diet plan has to understand is that avoiding some food which a person likes very much is not going to help in any way. The best practice will be to take the food that one likes, but care should be taken to limit it to the level prescribed by your dietitian.
Another easy and more practical way to reduce weight by diet modification is to change to vegetarian food habits. Meatless diet of vegetarians has been found to be very good in reducing the overweight as fat content in vegetarian food is less. Deficiency in vitamin B12 is commonly found in vegetarians. This deficiency can be overcome by taking B12 supplements, if needed.
Another important aspect that has always to be kept in mind is to restrict use of confectionaries and beverages to the lowest level possible and also not to show any special attraction to way side food and fast food because they are usually store houses of calories.
Physical activity: When somebody is controlling his food habits or undergoing dietary changes to reduce the abnormal weight of his body, it is always better that he encourages physical activities like walking to his work place, engaging in gardening activities, taking part in dancing, swimming etc. Without the help and support given by increased physical activities, no person will be able to get a sustainable improvement in his weight loss efforts.
Exercise & Activity
When a person’s body mass index crosses 35 he is considered to be obese. Why obesity is caused is a common question which has been asked time and again. The answer that is medically correct and which is often quoted is that obesity occurs when the energy consumed by a person is greater than that is needed by a person, the extra energy being converted as fat which initiates the weight building process.
From the above it is clear that if the energy intake through food can be balanced by the energy spent, then there will be no additional energy left to be converted as fat. The real life experience that almost every obese person leads a sedentary life is a fact which underlines the above statement. By leading a sedentary life, the energy they get from their daily diet are not properly used, they are actually used for biological purposes like respiration and digestion only. If they change this life style and engage in more activities like walking, swimming, dancing, sporting and gaming activities etc, not only the energy intake will be used, but energy from fat in the body will also be used and this will help to stop the increase in body weight and slowly this may lead to a reduction in body weight also.
Make realistic and practical goads: It is always better to have a more practical and realistic goal like reducing weight in small quantities through a long period. For example planning to Reduce 10 % of weight within a period of 6 months or one year is a practical and realistic goal. Only such weight loss will be permanent. If weight loss is achieved through speedy methods like fastening and over exercising this will not last longer. Once you stop the activities the weight will return again.
Discard sedentary life style: Anyone who wants to reduce his extra body weight has to come out of sluggish and sedentary life style through concerted and dedicated efforts. The best thing to do is to incorporate more activity in your daily life by walking or cycling to your workplace in the morning and evening and joining in a health center for doing some regular exercised in a bid to increase your muscle power and body shape. Aerobic exercises, swimming, dancing, gardening etc are some other interesting and engaging activities which an obese person can rely upon for reducing his weight. Help groups and communities are there which can give valuable information and keep you motivated in your weight loss programs.
Keep a record of food eaten and activities performed: It has been found to be very effective if a record is maintained by obese persons which will include the details of daily food that he is consuming and the activities that is being performed. This will help you to find out which are the factors that help in your effort to reduce your weight and which are the factors that prevent in achieving your goals. This record can be used to record and understand important parameters like blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol etc which play very crucial role obesity.
Alternative Medications & Support
There are numerous alternative medications available for treating obesity other than the conventional options of life style and dieting habit changes, exercising and surgical procedures. Numerous dietary supplements, mind body therapies like acupuncture, meditation, yoga etc complements other obesity treatments.
Avoiding Obesity : Health Tips
We all know that prevention is always better than cure.The obesity or over weight conditions can be easily prevented by following some simple steps.
1.Plan before you eat because it helps you in controlling diet.
2.Keep a regular time for eating and don’t wait to get hungry, as it helps in scheduling your mind clock.
3.Drink a lot of water.
4.Stop eating when you feel fuller.
5.Switch to low calorie food intakes.
6.Avoid junks,fries,oil-based food items.
7.Be slow in food intake as it boosts your brain to make you feel fuller.
8.Avoid eating in front of T.V sets,as it make you unaware about consumption.
9.Involving in sports,out door games,walking,swimming etc.
10.Be confident and enthusiastic about shedding weight.
Obesity Diagnosis
When your obesity index crosses 30, it is a signal indicating that your weight has increased considerably and it is time that you discuss this matter with your health care provider. He will try to understand your health problem by studying your health history and by conducting a physical examination. Diagnostic tests and examinations usually conducted by surgeons to evaluate obesity are detailed below.
Health history: Your doctor will conduct a comprehensive study about your health problem. He will also study the circumstances that lead to the obesity. This study will include matters like eating pattern, exercise levels, stress levels, what medications are being taken etc. Your doctor may study the family history also to ascertain whether any genetic factors are there behind the obesity.
Other health hazards: If you are experiencing any other health problems like high blood pressure or diabetes, these factors will be evaluated through diagnostic tests. This will help him to find out to what extent they are present in the patient.
Your waist circumference will be measured: Abdominal fat stored around your waist may increase considerably. Men with waist size more than 40 inches and women with waist size more than 35 inches will be having health problems caused by obesity. So measurement of waist size is a fast and easy method to find out whether a person is obese or not.
Calculating your BMI: Body mass index (BMI) is the easiest method followed by physicians to know whether a person is obese or not. BMI is obtained by dividing the weight in kilogram of a person by the square of his height in meters. If BMI of a person is greater than 30 then he is considered as an obese person. Although the BMI can be calculated by any person and no help of a medical practitioner is needed to find out BMI, all patients who go for treatment for abnormal weight increase will be subjected to BMI test as a preliminary method to know whether he is obese or not.
Physical check up: The physician will also conduct a general check up to find how your heart is functioning and to know vital details like blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose level in blood etc. After finding out all the above details your physician may suggest that you may undergo an echocardiogram test also.
After conducting all these tests your physician will be able to decide how much weight has to be reduced to make you a normal man and what is to be the procedure and medications to be followed to achieve the desired result.
Medical Management Of Obesity
Obesity starts taking place when the calorie value of food we eat everyday exceeds the calorie value of the energy we spend through our daily activities necessary to sustain and carry out our life plus the energy we spend in our activities like work, sporting activity, walking swimming etc. When these two energy levels are almost equal they balance each other and hence no weight gain occurs. But when the energy intake through food we eat is higher and the energy burnt in daily activities are lesser, the balance of energy that is available in our body is stored as fat in the body.
Surgical Management Of Obesity
Persons who are severely obese face increased risk of health problems and are at critical state most often. Their health risk increases as their weight increases. So the only solution available to them is to undergo surgical procedure which is intended to reduce the volume of their stomach or to reduce the amount of food that is digested by not ingesting some portion of the food eaten by the patient. Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, Duodenal Switch , Gastric Banding and Gastric Sleeve ( Sleeve Gastrectomy ) are the common surgical procedure followed by the surgeons.
Meet our Expert
Dr.Nagaraj B Puttaswamy is a well reputed obesity management expert in our institute who holds the legacy of 17 successful years in Obesity management.He is the Chief in Bariatric Surgery and has expertise in Obesity surgery.He has extensive knowledge about surgical management of morbidly obese patients.