Obesity has put a massive number of people at a higher risk of life-threatening health issues in the recent years. Statistics point out that it has already affected 25% of the Indian population. It is one of the leading causes of illnesses such as stroke, cardiovascular problems, cancer and hypertension.


Causes and symptoms you must watch out for -
The most common causes of obesity are-

Eating high Glycemic Index (measured above 70) foods like refined grains (white rice, white bread) that cause insulin and blood sugar levels to rise up quickly.

Leading an inactive, sedentary lifestyle
Genetic predisposition and hormonal changes over the years. As you age, your body loses muscle mass and the metabolic rate becomes slower. This makes it easier for you to gain weight.

Other medical conditions such as Hypothyroidism, PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), Prader-Willi Syndrome

Symptoms include-

Excessive sweating
Breathlessness
Tiredness and fatigue
Pain in the joints

Obesity diagnosis-

BMI: People who are obese have a BMI equal to or greater than 30.

Screening test: If you have been encountering the symptoms mentioned above, consider undergoing screening tests like ultrasound, CT scan and MRI scan.

How can Ayurveda treat Obesity?

In Ayurveda, all health problems are the result of an imbalance of the basic humors in the body - kapha, vata and pitta. One effective Ayurvedic therapy to cure obesity is the Panchakarma vidhi.

Panchakarma uses medicated herbs, natural ingredients like rice, sand, medicated powder on your body to soothe your senses and flush out the toxins from your body.

There are 5 different ways to restore your body’s dosha balance-

Vamana- The process of vomiting out the toxins after medication and therapy.

Virechana- The process of excreting toxins through bowel movement.

Nasya- Essential oils and medicinal herbs used to massage the head region. The toxins are then released from your system through formentation.

Basti- Sesame oil and medicinal herbs used to soften and cut the fat tissues. This increases the heat in the fat tissues and triggers metabolism.

Raktamoskshana- Purifies the blood stream, thereby filtering out the toxins from your body.
Ayurvedic treatment methods are also accompanied by a balanced lifestyle, healthy diet, exercise and meditation. Those suffering from obesity should go for Panchakarma, as it helps cure the condition from within.

Maternal overweight and hyperglycemia or high blood sugar are linked to the earlier onset of puberty in girls, which can lead to multiple adverse health developments in adulthood, finds a study.

The results showed that maternal obesity (body mass index of 30 or more) and overweight (body mass index between 25 and 30) in mothers was associated with 40 per cent and 20 per cent greater chance of earlier breast development in girls aged 6 to 11, respectively.

"We know that maternal weight can influence childhood weight. What we are learning is that the utero environment may also affect the timing of future pubertal development in offspring, which makes sense since human brains are developed in utero and the brain releases hormones affecting puberty," said lead author Ai Kubo, research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research.


Similar associations between maternal obesity and earlier onset were also linked with the development of pubic hair.

The study also found a significant relationship between hyperglycemia (elevated blood sugar during pregnancy) in mothers and the earlier onset of breast development, but not in mothers with gestational diabetes.

"It's possible that women with the diagnosis of gestational diabetes were more careful about weight and diet, which might have changed the amount of weight gain and offspring development patterns, but other studies need to replicate the finding to be able to conclude that there is an association," Kubo noted.

For the study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the team included more than 15,000 girls and their mothers.

Previous researches have demonstrated that early puberty, including the early onset of breast development or menarche (initiation of menstruation), increases the risk of adverse health outcomes including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and cancer in adolescence and adulthood.

For girls, it has been linked to a higher risk of adverse emotional and behavioural outcomes including depression, anxiety, earlier sexual initiation and pregnancy.

Besides healthy eating and exercise, getting enough sleep may also be a key factor in managing weight in children and adolescents, a new study has found.The findings showed that children and adolescents who get less than the recommended amount of sleep for their age are at a higher risk of gaining more weight.

Overall, they were 58 per cent more likely to become overweight or obese -- a common risk factor for various cardio-metabolic diseases.


"Being overweight can lead to cardiovascular disease and Type-2-diabetes which is also on the increase in children. The findings of the study indicate that sleep may be an important potentially modifiable risk factor (or marker) of future obesity," said Michelle Miller, from the University of Warwick in Coventry, UK.

For the study, published in the journal Sleep, the team reviewed the results of 42 population studies of infants, children and adolescents aged zero to 18 years which included a total of 75,499 participants.

"The results showed a consistent relationship across all ages indicating that the increased risk is present in both younger and older children," Miller said.

The prevalence of obesity has increased world-wide and the World Health Organisation has now declared it a global epidemic.

According to the recent recommendations by US-based National Sleep Foundation infants (four to 11 months) must get between 12-15 hours of nightly sleep, toddlers (one-two years) must sleep for 11-14 hours.

Children in pre-school (three-five years) should sleep for 10-13 hours, while school aged children (six-13 years) must get between nine and 11 hours of sleep. Teenagers (14-17 years) are advised to get eight-10 hours.

Besides smoking and drinking alcohol, parents' health including obesity and poor diet can have "profound implications" for the growth, development and long-term health of their children before their conception, says a series of studies published in the journal Lancet.

The findings showed that smoking, high alcohol and caffeine intake, diet, obesity and malnutrition in either or both parents, potentially increases a child's lifelong risk of heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, immune and neurological diseases.

The research emphasises the need for greater awareness of preconception health and improved guidance, with greater focus on diet and nutrition to improve the health of future generations.

"Research is now showing that our gametes and early embryos are sensitive to a variety of environmental conditions including poor parental diet. These effects can change the process of development, affecting growth, metabolism and health of offspring, so makes the case for both parents to have a healthy lifestyle well before conception and pregnancy." said Tom Fleming, professor at the University of Southampton.

Maternal obesity is thought to enhance levels of inflammation and hormones, which can directly alter the development of the egg and embryo. This, in turn, boosts the odds of chronic disease later in life.

In men, being obese leads to poor sperm quality, quantity and motility associated with many of the same conditions.

"The preconception period is a critical time when parental health -- including weight, metabolism and diet -- can influence the risk of future chronic disease in children, and we must now re-examine public health policy to help reduce this risk," said Judith Stephenson, professor from the University College of London.

"While the current focus on risk factors such as smoking and excess alcohol intake is important, we also need new drives to prepare nutritionally for pregnancy in both parents," Stephenson added.

The results were based in part on two new analyses of women of reproductive age - 18 to 42 - in the UK and Australia.

The team also found that women are often not "nutritionally prepared" for pregnancy. Some 96 per cent of the women, for example, had iron and folate intakes below the recommended levels, 14.8 milligrams and 400 micrograms per day, respectively.

Adjusting diet after a pregnancy has begun is often not good enough to fundamentally improve child health, the researchers said.

They propose that behaviour change interventions, supplementation and fortification starting in adolescence, by schools could help young adults prepare for healthy parenthood in the future.

Obesity may increase risk of developing a rapid and irregular heart rate, called atrial fibrillation, which can lead to stroke, heart failure and other complications, says a study of nearly 70,00 patients.The findings, published in the journal American Journal of Cardiology, showed that people with obesity had a 40 percent higher chance of developing atrial fibrillation than people without obesity.

The results suggest that for patients with both obesity and atrial fibrillation, losing weight has the potential to help treat and manage their atrial fibrillation, said Andrew Foy, Assistant Professor at Penn State College of Medicine in the US.

"If you have both atrial fibrillation and obesity, treating obesity will go a long way in treating and managing your atrial fibrillation," Foy said.

"And if you have obesity, and lose weight through diet, exercise, or even surgery, that will help reduce your risk of developing chronic conditions like atrial fibrillation," he added.

Atrial fibrillation happens when the electrical currents in the heart go haywire and the top chambers of the heart quiver or flutter.

The condition puts patients at a higher risk for developing other heart complications.

While previous research has linked obesity and atrial fibrillation, Foy said he wanted to explore the connection in a larger sample of younger patients.

The researchers followed a group of 67,278 patients -- half with obesity and half without -- for eight years. The average participant age was 43.8 and nearly 77 per cent were women.

People with obesity are 40 per cent more likely to develop atrial fibrillation, while they are 45 per cent and 51 per cent more likely to develop hypertension or diabetes, respectively, the findings showed.

The researchers also found that people with obesity are almost just as likely to develop atrial fibrillation as people with hypertension or diabetes.