The Obesity Epidemic

Obesity is an accumulation of excess fat in the body that may lead to negative effects on health, reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Presenting the figures given by WHO, in 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults aged 18 years and older were overweight. Of these over 650 million adults were obese. Overweight and obesity are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight. Hence, it is vital to reduce and prevent obesity. Obesity is one of the aspects in Ashtanindita Purush (eight types of abnormal constituents) in Charak Samhita. In Ayurveda, Atisthaulya (Obesity) is described as excessive accumulation of Meda (fat tissue) and Mamsa (muscle tissue) leading to looseness of hips, abdomen, and breast. In Ayurveda, it is considered as one of Santarpanottha Vikaras (disease due to consumption of excessive calories).

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