With the rise of fast food over the last decade or so, western civilisation is under siege from a problem that has never plagued the world in its history. This problem is obesity. Despite the increasing research and facts emerging about fatty foods, and its affects to people's bodies and health, a vast amount of the western world still choose to ignore these facts and binge on fast foods, and do little exercise. It was reported that 35% of British men have not done any exercise within the last year, and over half are classed as over-weight or obese, while the proportion of people spending money on fatty foods and alcohol has risen. Will the coming generation be known as the obese generation, we can only hope not. Not only could this have disastrous economic affects in the UK as the strain will be felt by the health system as the generation ages, but on a personal level, being obese has huge (pardon the pun) health hazards!

The Health Hazards of being Obese

There are many health hazards associated with obesity, here I will inform you of the main ones, and hopefully in doing so, give you several reasons to either lose weight if you are currently obese, or keep you away from joining the increasingly large, infamous club, that is obesity, obesity is a club to be avoided if you value your health and your life. So here it is: Firstly, cardiovascular disease, people who are overweight or obese are increasingly susceptible to cardiovascular disease, this is because of the affects that obesity has on lipid levels of the blood. Being overweight tends to result in having high levels LDL also known as 'bad cholesterol' which builds up on the inside of the arteries and result in the narrowing of the arteries, and in some cases blocking, a blood clot is a possibility, along with a heart attack!

Lethargy and daytime tiredness, obese people have been found to increasingly suffer from tiredness during the day and as a result, are more prone to be involved in road accidents. Further more it is likely that obese people will live as productive lives due to this lethargy and tiredness; as a result, it also makes losing weight even harder as they struggle to find the energy to go out and exercise.

Type-2 diabetes, it has been reported that up to 90% of type-2 diabetes sufferers are either overweight or obese, and as a result obesity has been found to be the major contributing factor to influencing whether or not somebody will suffer from type-2 diabetes. Diabetes in obese people is also more difficult to treat.

High Blood Pressure, it has long been known now that obesity can lead to high blood pressure, as blood pressure tends to rise with weight. Although the full reasons why obesity leads to high blood pressure is not fully known, one theory is that it is because the blood needs to be under greater pressure to get round a larger body. Although the heart can withstand high blood pressure for a long period of time, after a period of time, it may enlarge, this being a significant factor in heart failure and as a result you may die. Blocking of vessels to the brain (due to weakening of the blood vessels due to high blood pressure) may lead to a stroke, which can also be fatal. Heart attacks and kidney failure are two other possible consequences of having a high blood pressure.