IT WAS interesting to read Professor Feng Pao Hsii's letter last Friday ("Good health not just about weight, says a 'lighter' doctor").
I agree with him that obesity is not the only risk factor for bad health and that good health is a lifelong journey. According to the World Health Organisation, health is a state of complete physical and mental well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity; and according to religious leaders, it also includes spiritual well-being.
Risk factors for coronary artery disease include high blood pressure, diabetes, dyslipidemia (impaired cholesterol level), cigarette smoking, lack of exercise, obesity, stress, advancing age and family history of heart disease. Many of these risk factors are also applicable to cancers and stroke. Obesity is also a big problem in diabetes and arthritis.
There are many ways to assess obesity. They include BMI ( body mass index), waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference and body fat estimation. Recently, the British Medical Journal reported a link between BMI and sexual behaviour and adverse sexual health outcomes.
It was also reported that there is a relation between obesity and erectile dysfunction in men. It reminds us of sexual dysfunction as a potential hidden outcome or determinant of wider ill health. In other words, obesity can harm not only health and longevity but also your sex life.
Dr V.P Nair
-- ST Forum
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