Being overweight is not the ideal lifestyle for any individual. However, what causes this lifestyle? Having a diet that is high in calories, constantly eating fast foods, skipping breakfast, eating large portions of food, drinking high calorie beverages and insufficient amount of exercise. The food is not used for energy but stored as fat in the body, which is a cause to weight gain. Obesity is a burden to anyone as it is associated with health problems, social discrimination and psychological issues. An overweight person will encounter health problems. According to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention more than 35 percent of U.S. adults are obese. In children, approximately 17 percent aged 2 to 19 are obese. One effect of this is type 2 diabetes. There is an 80% chance for an individual to develop this disease because of excess fat. Being overweight causes the cells in the body to change and that makes the cells harder to adapt to the hormone, insulin. The insulin carries the sugar to the blood cells and uses it as energy. Such cells have to work extra hard to keep blood sugar normal. Another effect of overweight is high blood pressure. High blood pressure associated with overweight in several ways. For one, the blood pumps harder to supply blood to all of the cells in the body and the excess fat on the kidneys will be damaged. The kidneys help regulate the blood pressure. Lastly, sleep apnea is another effect of an overweight person. Having more fat stored around the neck results in making the passage way smaller for air. A smaller airway makes it harder to breathe or even stop breathing altogether for short periods of times. In addition, the fat stored increase inflammation and this is a risk factor for sleep apnea. .
In addition, overweight for any individual can lead to psychological abuse. As stated in "Psychological Consequences Of Being Overweight ", Harry Mills says, "Psychological consequences of being overweight or obese can include lowered self-esteem and anxiety, and more serious disorders such as depression and eating disorders such as binge eating, bulimia and anorexia.