Chapter 41: Obesity Flashcards
BMI (kg/m2) =
Weight (pounds) X 703 / Height (inches)2
Individuals with a BMI…
less than 18.5 kg/m2 are considered underweigh
18.5 and 24.9 kg/m2 reflect a normal body weight.
25 to 29.9 kg/m2 is classified as being overweight
30 kg/m2 or above are considered obese.
The term severely (morbidly, extremely) obese
is used for those with a BMI greater than 40 kg/m2
waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)
The ratio is calculated by using the waist measurement
divided by the hip measurement.
WHR less than 0.8 is optimal, and a WHR greater than 0.8 indicates more truncal fat, which puts the individual at a greater risk for health complications.
primary obesity
The majority of obese persons have primary obesity, which is excess calorie intake over energy expenditure for the body’s metabolic demands
secondary obesity
Others have secondary obesity, which can
result from various congenital anomalies, chromosomal anomalies, metabolic problems, or central nervous system lesions and disorders.
People with two copies of a certain allele at the
FTO gene
FTO (fat mass and obesity-associated gene)
weigh 7 to 8 lb more and have a greater risk of obesity
than those who do not have the risk allele.
The two major consequences of obesity are due to the sheer increase in fat mass and the production of adipokines produced by fat cells.
Adipocytes produce at least 100 different proteins.
These proteins, secreted as enzymes, adipokines, growth factors, and hormones, contribute to the development of insulin resistance and atherosclerosis
About 20% of cancers in women and 15% in men are
attributable to obesity
breast, endometrial, kidney,
colorectal, pancreatic, esophageal, and gallbladder cancer
The overall goals are that the obese patient will
(1) modify eating patterns, (2) participate in a regular physical activity program, (3) achieve and maintain weight loss to a specified level, and (4) minimize or prevent health problems related to obesity.
plan of care must be directed at two different processes:
(1) successful weight loss, which requires a short-term
energy deficit; and (2) successful weight control, which requires long-term behavior changes
The assumption behind behavior
modification is twofold:
(1) obesity is a learned disorder caused
by overeating and (2) often the critical difference between an obese person and a person of normal weight is the cues that regulate eating behavior. Therefore most behavior-modification programs deemphasize the diet and focus on how and when to eat.
Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a cluster of health
problems, including obesity, hypertension, abnormal lipid
levels, and high blood glucose.
Metabolic syndrome, also known as syndrome X, insulin resistance
syndrome, and dysmetabolic syndrome, is a collection of
risk factors that increase an individual’s chance of developing
cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes mellitus.
