(NAPSI)—Obesity is a life-long problem affecting over 42% of American adults. Most people don’t realize obesity is a disease, or that it impacts some ethnic and racial groups more than others, including 47% of Hispanic Americans.
Here are some important facts about obesity:
- Obesity is not due to poor lifestyle choices. Lack of willpower is often blamed as a main cause for weight gain, but research shows that obesity is a complex disease with many factors causing weight gain. Obesity also increases the risk of developing health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and liver disease.
- Losing weight can reverse certain health conditions. Losing weight can positively impact your overall health, easing joint pain, reducing cancer risk, and lowering blood pressure. It can also help improve digestive issues like acid reflux or GERD, and lessen harmful fat in your liver.
- Many doctors can provide obesity treatments. Doctors can help patients with obesity-related digestive health issues, such as reflux or liver disease that can be treated or prevented through weight management.
- Helpful ways patients can manage their weight. Your health care provider can help with which treatments are best for you, including lifestyle changes, medications, endoscopic procedures, or surgery.
“Patients often come to my office for serious health issues, which they don’t realize can be prevented or reversed by staying at a healthy weight,” said Dr. Andres Acosta, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “This is very important for Hispanic American adults who have more obesity and liver disease than other ethnicities. Keeping up a healthy weight is an important way to improve obesity-related health issues and prevent or reverse certain conditions before they become severe.”
Learn more about the American Gastroenterological Association’s Obesity Resource Center at https://patient.gastro.org/obesity.
