Physical Inactivity or an Excessive Eating Habit

Background: We tried to understand possible effects of physical inactivity and an excessive eating habit on excess weight. Methods: We took consecutive patients between the ages of 35 and 70 years to be able to see possible consequences of excess weight on health and to avoid debility induced weight loss in elder individuals. Results: The study included 270 cases (145 females) with normal weight, 270 cases with overweight, and 270 cases with obesity. Female ratio was 53.7% in the three groups. Mean ages were 47.1, 46.3, and 48.9 years in the three groups, respectively (p>0.05 for both). As a pleasure point in life, smoking did not show higher prevalences in the overweight or obesity groups, and its prevalences were similar in the three groups (35.9%, 32.9%, and 33.7%, respectively, p>0.05 for both). On the other hand, prevalences of hypertension (HT) (8.1%, 13.7%, and 21.8%), diabetes mellitus (DM) (9.6%, 20.0%, and 28.5%), and dyslipidemia (19.2%, 32.5%, and 40.3%) showed highly significant increases from the normal weight towards the overweight and obesity groups, respectively (p<0.001 nearly for all). Conclusion: Parallel to its severity, excess weight is associated with greater prevalences of HT, DM, and dyslipidemia. As a pleasure point in life, smoking may also show the weakness of volition to control eating in cases with excess weight. But excess weight may actually be a consequence of physical inactivity instead of an excessive eating habit because prevalences of smoking were similar in the normal weight, overweight, and obesity groups in the present study.