People who are grossly over weight - or obese - and heading towards a major health problem need to know the causes of obesity and consequently the health risks of obesity. Once they know this then it becomes easier for them to comprehend the need to address their situation and change their life style to avoid the health effects of obesity.

Causes of Obesity - change your diet

The medical profession is of the unanimous opinion that obesity is caused my two main factors - diet and an inactive lifestyle, with diet being recognized as the principal cause.

A diet consisting mainly of processed foods, high in protein, sugar, salt, with an over-abundance of fat, and an absence of fresh fruit and vegetables, is a diet with one outcome - obesity. In this case a complete change of diet is necessary to halt the progress of the disease, together with a greater understanding of the benefits of a nutritious diet.

The obesity sufferer and other over weight people need to adopt a diet that consists of plenty of fresh fruit (two portions daily) and vegetables (five portions daily). A moderate amount of lean meat, poultry or fish. Nuts, pulses, grains and whole meal products should also be part of the diet. Alcohol drinks in moderation are acceptable, but sugary soft drinks should be kept to a minimum.

Good eating habits can be quickly adopted, and passed onto children. Likewise bad eating habits are quickly taken up by children, thus passing the obesity problem from one generation to another.

Causes of Obesity - get more exercise

The other major cause of obesity is an absence of regular physical exercise, especially children.

Children are not getting the exercise they need to keep healthy. Too much of their time is spent in sedentary activities - watching TV and playing computer games.

Physical exercise can take many forms - a brisk walk, jogging, running, playing tennis, squash, swimming, cycling - the list is endless. But for a person just coming to terms with the need to engage in exercise, then a walk of about 45 minutes a day is sufficient. This level of exercise is enough to prevent the accumulation of fat within the body providing a healthy diet is eaten.

A change in life style involving diet and exercise, together with a total commitment on the part of the sufferer to successfully lose weight, can provide a permanent solution for obesity.

Health Risks of Obesity - the penalty is high

Failure to embrace a healthy diet and regular exercise can lead to many health risks associated with obesity, many of them potentially life threatening. This factor alone should motivate obese people to successfully lose weight.

These life threatening problems include some of the following:

Type 2 diabetes - considered one of man kinds most serious diseases, it's caused by excessive overweight and leads to blindness, loss of limbs, and eventually death.

Chronic heart disease, hypertension, disease of the arteries, stroke

Several forms of cancer are more prevalent in obese people - colon, prostate, bowel, kidney, and breast

Arthritis is more common amongst overweight people

In addition to these health problems, excessively obese people (called morbid obesity) will also experience difficulties in enjoying a normal lifestyle. They may experience mobility difficulties (lack of exercise will accentuate their problem). They may even have problems in being able to breathe.

Whilst the health problems are bad enough, an obesity sufferer may experience psychological problems associated with the condition, and the adverse social effects of obesity. The biggest factors here are a lack of self esteem and perhaps more important, social discrimination, especially in the workplace.

Obesity sufferers are being helped to overcome their health problem with a new fat binder pill recently released on the market. This pill has the ability to reject 28% of the fat in a recently consumed meal and prevent it from being stored in the body, and has been recognized internationally as being an effective weight control product.