How Long Has Our Society Been Obese

Obesity refers to people whose body weight is too high comparing to their height.

Obesity is the result of an overwhelming imbalance between energy intake and expenditure.

In other words, people become obese because they take in more calories than they spend every day. Gradually, the unused calories are accumulated in the body as fat, and thus results in obesity.

Obesity has been a popular topic in the news and media but have you ever wondered about the history of obesity-how long have we been this fat? In Ancient Egypt, people regarded obesity as a form of sickness that required treatment. Ancient Chinese were also aware that obesity was not good for people's health and they took measures to prevent it.

The History of Obesity--How Long Have We Been This Fat?

Even the doctor of medicine, Hippocrates had observed that obese people were more likely to have a sudden death than their lean counterparts. In many African countries, however, being fat and even obese has always been a sign of wealth as only rich people can afford that great amount of food.

It appears that in the Ancient era, people tried to avoid being obese. Tracing the history of obesity-how long have we been this fat, we will begin to discover that excessive weight gain begins in the 1990s. During that time, some famous European fashion designers had openly said that being fat was not fashionable.

However, ironically this was also the time when people in the Western country began to gain weight due to the increased popularity of fast food chains, such as McDonald's and Wendy's. Not a lot of people realized the effects of gaining weight and being obese, and since fast food was relatively cheaper, many chose to indulge in food that was high in fat and sugar content.

In the 1940s, governments, medical practitioners, and insurance companies began conducting research on the adverse effects of obesity. In 1996, the Body Mass Index (BMI) was released by the World Health Organization. By referring to the BMI chart, people will know what their healthy weight is in relation to their height. However, more people are becoming obese every year, particularly in Western countries.

Looking at the history of obesity-how long have we been this fat may be disheartening as we seem to regress from the Ancient period and become increasingly unhealthy. Eliminating obesity cannot be achieved overnight, but with determination and sufficient physical exercise and a healthy diet, soon the number of obesity in our society will begin to decrease.