Partial Title:
INTRODUCTION
Obesity has been for long considered a medical condition. The problem is not
hereditary in nature as most people perceive although some inheritance of the genes
may cause vulnerability, rather it is caused by a number of health issues. Obesity
could be explained as the excessive accumulation of fats in the body to a point that it
brings many negative issues to the health of the individual. To determine whether an
individual is obese, there are two main methods that are used. The first is the body
mass index that has been adopted by the European countries and the other is the
stricter criteria that have mostly been adopted by the eastern Asian countries. The
body mass index is the focus of the study since it is the measure of obesity that has
been adopted in the United Kingdom. The body mass index uses the weight of the
individual and compares with their height. The BMI, measurement is obtained by
dividing the weight of the individual against the height and the measurement is given
in kg/m
2
. For an individual to be considered obese, the BMI should be above 30
kg/m
2
. After the calculations of the BMI, the classification of the individuals may be
as obese, overweight, normal weight or underweight .
It has been identified that obesity is usually a problem that is hazardous to the
individuals’ life since it leads to a reduced life expectancy by about six to seven years
and in increase in the health problems of the individual. The major causes of obesity
is a combination of three major factors namely, lack of physical activities, excessive
consumption of energy foods and genetic susceptibility. There are also a few cases
that have been caused by psychiatric illnesses and disorders, medication, genes and
endocrine disorders. Among the health disorders that are caused by obesity include
such risks as heart diseases, obstructive sleep apnea, type II diabetes, stroke, poor or
abnormal breathing, hypertension and certain types of cancer. The study was thus