Overweight and Obesity - Complications

 Obesity can cause a number of further problems, from difficulties with daily activities to serious health conditions.

Some of the day-to-day problems that can be caused by obesity include:

    breathlessness
    increased sweating
    snoring
    difficulty doing physical activity
    feeling very tired a lot of the time
    joint and back pain
    low confidence and self-esteem
    feeling isolated

You may also find that some of the psychological problems associated with being obese affect your relationships with family members and friends, and may lead to depression.

Further health problems

Being obese can also increase your risk of many potentially serious health conditions, including:

 type 2 diabetes – a condition that causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high
    high blood pressure
    high cholesterol and atherosclerosis (where fatty deposits narrow your arteries), which can lead to coronary heart disease and stroke
    asthma
    metabolic syndrome – a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity
    several types of cancer, including bowel cancer, breast cancer and womb cancer
    gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) – where stomach acid leaks out of the stomach and into the oesophagus (gullet)
    gallstones – small stones, usually made of cholesterol, that form in the gallbladder
    reduced fertility
    osteoarthritis – a condition involving pain and stiffness in your joints
    sleep apnoea – a condition that causes interrupted breathing during sleep, which can lead to daytime sleepiness with an increased risk of road traffic accidents, as well as a greater risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease
    liver disease and kidney disease
    pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia (when a woman experiences a potentially dangerous rise in blood pressure during pregnancy)

Obesity reduces life expectancy by an average of 3 to 10 years, depending on how severe the problem is. It's estimated that being overweight or obese contributes to at least 1 in every 13 deaths in Europe.

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