Obesity is one of the common lifestyle diseases that is affecting people across the globe. A professor from of the University of Alberta who has an expertise in medicine said that countries have to accept the fact that obesity is a chronic disease and one should focus on maintaining the lost weight rather than on shedding kilos. "A lot of communities have recognised obesity as a chronic disease. This is because even if patients lose weight, if you wait long enough, everyone puts their weight back on, with only a handful of exceptions," said Professor Arya Sharma of the University of Alberta at a symposium during the International Diabetes Federation Conference 2019 here.
He also said that all people, including patients and physicians, believe that controlling obesity is a simple task and is about energy balance on controlling calories, Korea Biomedical Review reported.
"We can control calorie intake by eating less and outtake by doing more exercise. So we believe that it will be easy to achieve a certain balance for weight loss. Therefore, in theory, this is not so difficult," Sharma was quoted as saying.
"However, the problem is there is a black box between controlling the intake and outtake of calories that people neglect," he said.
In order to defend an individual's body from weight loss, the black box is a sophisticated, redundant, complicated and effective physiological system designed.
"Unfortunately, when we try to lose weight with any method, the body's system is going to work against the person trying to lose weight. Adaptations to weight loss include hormonal changes, increase in appetite, decrease in metabolic rate, and thermogenesis activity," Sharma said.
Various methods were listed by the professors that were used by hospitals to treat obesity like behavioural modifications such as dieting and exercise and surgical methods.
"Behavior modification, such as controlling what a person eats or exercises, normally helps patients lose 3 to 5 per cent of their weight. The problem is that the lost weight will come back if the person stops their behavioral modification," Sharma said.
As per the experts, it is important to acknowledge that obesity is a chronic disease that requires good management.
Here Are Few Effective Tips To Manage Obesity:
1. Add whole grains to your morning meals.
2. Add protein to every major meal as they are essential for the body.
3. Stay away from trans-fats.
4. Do not skip meals and eat balanced meals in a day.
5. Keep sugar and aerated beverages at bay.
Note: The tips mentioned above are not part of the study.