Obesity's Serious Threat to Health: An In-Depth Analysis of its Breeding Ground for Chronic Diseases and Socioeconomic Impacts

Obesity poses significant health risks to humans: it causes inconvenience at work; it leads to various diseases; it negatively impacts social interactions; it restricts career options; it reduces income and increases the financial burden of medical treatment; obesity also leads to feelings of inferiority, especially for young women, causing damage to their self-esteem; and ultimately, obesity can affect lifespan, among other things.

Diabetes is classified into two types: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes typically occurs in adolescents under the age of 15 and is called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes. Type 2 diabetes usually occurs after the age of 40 and is called adult-onset diabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Patients with Type 2 diabetes generally have a history of obesity. To prevent the development of diabetes, weight loss is essential, and controlling diet is crucial.

The incidence of hypertension in obese individuals ranges from 22.3% to 52.0%, significantly higher than in those of normal weight. The more obese a person is, the higher the incidence of hypertension. Hyperlipidemia is closely related to obesity. This is because patients with hyperlipidemia have abnormally high levels of cholesterol or triglycerides in their blood, exceeding the normal range. Obese patients often have lipid metabolism disorders, manifested as increased levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood, as well as increased low-density lipoprotein and free fatty acids, while high-density lipoprotein is decreased. Hyperlipidemia is more common in obese individuals.

Obesity can induce coronary heart disease for the following reasons: 1. Excessive fat intake increases the workload on the heart or raises blood pressure; 2. Excessive energy intake leads to coronary atherosclerosis; 3. Reduced physical activity in obese individuals weakens and reduces collateral circulation in the coronary arteries; 4. The deposition of adipose tissue in the pericardium affects the normal contractile activity of the heart, resulting in myocardial ischemia and hypoxia, and in severe cases, sudden death.

Obese individuals have elevated blood cholesterol levels and increased vascular permeability, leading to the deposition of lipids on the blood vessel walls and causing arteriosclerosis in the brain. Furthermore, increased blood viscosity and platelet aggregation in obese individuals increase the risk of cerebral infarction. In addition, obesity can also lead to pulmonary heart syndrome, cataracts, cancer, osteoarthritis, gout, gallstones, and fatty liver disease.

The increase in obesity has led to a rise in chronic diseases, placing a significant economic burden on both society and individuals in the process of treating these illnesses. Severely obese individuals are often unable to work, requiring care from family and friends, resulting in lost work hours, reduced labor productivity, and negatively impacting the socio-economic landscape.

The immune system is a network of billions of immune cells that work together within the body to perform their respective functions and ensure the body's health. Obese children, due to their love of sweets, especially high-refined sugar foods, experience a decline in immune function. This is because excessively high blood glucose levels alter the molecular structure of immunoglobulins, causing protein denaturation and impairing their immune function.