Studies have enlightened us that from age 40, women have greater tendency to become overweight at the slightest provocation. The explanation given was that, at this age, the digestive system slows down and the body is no less likely to engage in any physical activity that would encourage speedy burning of fat.
For this reason, medical experts and nutritionists who understand the health implication of getting unusually fat have had to caution against lifestyle that may facilitate it. Coincidentally, over time, most women and ladies had thought that one way to gain the public’s approval of their appearance is by looking robust and weighty.
As a result, many of them had undertaken some feeding regime that could facilitate an eventual robust posture. This dieting programme which, of course, emphasises foods high in carbohydrate and starch, junk foods, soft drinks and candy coupled with a life style devoid of physical exercise, constitute a hasty invitation to overweight.
Alternatively, fatty looks are also invited through self administration of appetite boosters which leaves its users hungry and drowsy. When people eat more calories than they use, their bodies store the extra calories as fat. A couple of pounds of extra body fat are not a health risk for most people. But when people keep up a pattern of eating more calories than they burn, more and more fat builds up in their bodies.
Eventually, the body gets to a point where the amount of body fat can harm a person’s health. Doctors use the terms “overweight” or “obese” to tell if someone has a greater chance of developing weight-related health problems.
Howbeit, research has shown that this attitude does not only have the danger of hampering the agility of the brain, but may increase the risk for many health problems, including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes. Others include certain types of cancer, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, fatty liver disease, kidney disease, pregnancy problems such as high blood sugar during pregnancy, high blood pressure, and increased risk for cesarean delivery (C-section)
Although, no sane woman would want to be overweight, popular opinion has it that women are propelled by the desire to boost their physique a little but because they are not properly guarded, they over do it and the unexpected becomes the case. It is for this reason that the need to have our mentality and attitude towards our natural look overhauled has become imminent.
People need to be told that there is a reason for the way they are made and so attempts to have natural physique altered by way of boosting it out of proportion must be discouraged in its entirety as they have caused more harm than good. Many who dared it have not only turned overweight, they have incurred some health problems upon themselves all in a bid to look good and attractive.
Like a writer once wrote, “apart from the obvious physical discomfort and ailment that come with overweight, there can also be a deep-seated psychological trauma which is usually characterised by a pervading sense of low self-esteem, insecurity or inferiority complex, that many overweight people have to contend with”.
Being too fat, therefore, especially in very mature people increases the vulnerability of the person to several diseases which could have been prevented by not to have introduced any biological or chemical catalyst to interfere with the natural state of the body.
Diseases such as heart-related cases, high blood pressure, frequent muscular pains and spasm, diabetes, bone ache etc are cases associated with overweight. Nevertheless, some cases of overweight had been linked to genetical inheritance while some have their own ordeal due to the agitation of some hormones as a result of child birth.
All the same, the arousal of the consciousness of the danger of too much fat in the body is only what is paramount this time. Whether it is a natural course or a self-propelled factor, looking out for its signs and administering its antidotes in good time will go a long way in tackling this monster called overweight.
People between the ages of 50 and 60 should adopt and maintain healthy habits, stay off oily foods, alcohol, sugary foods and fried foods. They should grill, boil or steam their food instead of frying. Prevention, they say, is better than cure. It is advisable to maintain a good eating habit and exercise regularly.
The fact that once the mistake is established, it becomes difficult to reverse, makes it necessary to view this craze-to-be-fat syndrome, as an anomaly that needs be corrected and possibly be nipped in the bud through the use of an enlightenment campaign or any other form of public education that could be very effective at reaching especially the grassroots women.

By: Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi