Obesity is a growing concern in most developed nations and is slowly spreading its vile tentacles to the developing ones also.

The body consists of lean body mass (LBM) (muscle, bone, skin, cartilage, organs, blood and body fluids) and normal fat stores. Men normally have around 17 per cent of their body weight stored in this while in women it is 23 per cent. A person is considered overweight when the fat level exceeds those prescribed. When the amount exceeds 25 per cent in men and 30 per cent in women, they are considered obese.

Attempts to seek help in tackling obesity are often met with ridicule the world over. This could relate to the fact that there could be nothing medically wrong with an obese person, though obesity, especially when the excess fat is located in the upper body and intra abdominally, is associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases, some forms of cancer, hormonal problems, gall and kidney stones, lung problems and strain on joints. More cogently, these associated disorders start reversing the moment fat content in the body starts getting lowered.

The manifold treatments available are more confusing than curing and an end-user may not be sure of which course of action to opt for.

Some available `therapies’ are: Destructive surgery (jaw wiring, stomach stapling), local liposuction, experimental biological liposuction, hypnosis, various types of diets, drugs to increase fecal loss or to accelerate breakdown of fats, drugs to suppress appetite, and the more recent experimental leptin replacement therapy.

Weight loss by `conventional’ methods is not loss of all fat, which when lost, is rarely exclusively from the excess fat stores. Losing muscle, normal fat stores and fat functions does not protect a person from the ill effects of obesity.

Obesity is a medical problem and needs individualized medical management. Your physician can help you outline the risk factors, according to your genetic tendencies for various conditions associated with obesity: high blood pressure, high serum cholesterol/triglycerides, raised blood sugar, and raised uric acid.

What you need to aim for, if you are at risk, along with life style and behavioral changes, is a favourable change in body composition, after a detailed analysis of your present body composition and individualized requirements for food and activity. It is possible to protect lean body mass and normal fat stores while exclusively utilizing fat from excess fat stores. This will give you long term freedom from some ill effects of obesity.