Heart Health Starts By Tackling Obesity

A close correlation exists between obesity and heart disease. While many people understand this link between heart attacks and obesity intellectually, they don't fully comprehend the risk they are taking by remaining overweight. The first step toward insuring a healthy heart for anyone is maintaining an appropriate body weight. Fat metabolisers will help the absorption of dietary fats helping break up fat stores and use them as energy. Use one of modern body scales to check your body fat range.

How Is Obesity Influenced by Heart Disease?

Overweight people are more susceptible to heart attacks because their body mass index or BMI is relatively high. BMI corresponds to the ratio of a person's height and weight. A person with a BMI value of 30 and above is obese and is at risk for a coronary incident due to the high level of fat in their system, which negatively effects blood circulation and blood pressure.

An obese person also has a greater chance of developing hypertension or high blood pressure. Although a common condition, if left untreated high blood pressure will cause the heart to over work and will weaken the heart muscle. The blood vessels will have a tendency to harden, raising the chances for a blood clot to form, which in turn increases the risk for a heart attack or stroke.

What Is The Relative Risk For Heart Disease Due To Obesity?

Statistics show that men and women now have equal risks of being obese in our modern world. In the past women were thought to be three times more likely to be overweight because they were not as active as men, but by the mid-1980s, the obesity rate had tripled. In part this rise in obesity across the boards is due to the sedentary nature of the modern lifestyle and the prevalence of fast foods in society.

Severe weight problems tend to appear between the ages of 55 and 64 when 71% of women and 79% of men begin to fight the battle of the bulge. Teenagers have only a 27 to 31 percent chance of being obese although these numbers continue to worsen as childhood obesity grows in the United States. In any population with a presence of obesity, coronary heart disease is possible.

The surest path to a healthier heart is to begin to make lifestyle changes that will help to shed the extra pounds. This means not just eating less, but eating better and developing a healthy exercise regimen.

Continue to : Precautions and Actions to Control Heart Attack Caused by Obesity

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