| Overweight or Obese? |
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Overweight is having extra body weight from muscle, bone, fat, and/or water. The most useful measure of overweight and obesity is the body mass index BMI. Millions of Americans and people worldwide are overweight or obese.
Overweight and obesity can result if things get out of balance such as eating too much food, not getting enough physical activity, or having too much of one or more nutrients in the diet. Being overweight or obese puts you at risk for many diseases and conditions. Be sure your family has healthy habits from the beginning, and prevent yourself and your children from becoming overweight.
Although there is a connection between overweight and obesity, not all overweight people are obese. Muscle has a higher density than fat, so highly muscular people may be overweight but not obese. Those who are overweight are assumed to be at greater health risk because excess weight is often in the form of fatty tissue, which increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
According to the tables, many American Footballers are overweight, yet they are much fitter and leaner than people of a comparable age and body build in the general population. Being overweight is a fairly common condition for many people, especially those in developed nations where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles often don not involve a lot of activities that generate caloric expenditure. If an individual is sufficiently overweight that excess body fat could present substantial health risks, he or she is considered to be obese.
Being overweight can become a matter of life and death. People who are overweight and obese are more likely to develop a number of potentially serious health problems. Usually, a person is overweight before they become obese.
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