weight-gain

Weight gain is an increase in body weight. This can be either an increase in muscle mass, fat deposits, or excess fluids such as water.

Description

In some cases, weight gain can also occur as a result of developing tumors or other abnormal growths. Muscle weight gain can occur as a result of bodybuilding, in which muscle size is increased through strength training.

If enough weight is gained by way of increased body fat deposits, one may become overweight.Overweight is generally defined as having more body fat (adipose tissue) than is optimally healthy.

Weight gain has a latency period. The effect that eating has on weight gain can vary greatly depending on the following factors: exercise regimen, amount of water intake, amount of salt fat or sugar contained in the food, time of day eaten, age of individual, individual's country of origin, individual's overall stress level, and amount of water retention in ankles/feet. Typical latency periods vary from 3 days to two weeks after ingestion.

Being overweight is a common condition, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary. As much as 64% of the United States adult population is considered either overweight or obese, and this percentage has increased over the last four decades.

Symptoms

• A noticeably larger stomach
• Increase in body fat percentage
• Increase in muscle mass
• Increase in body hydration levels
• Increase in breast size
• The abdomen will bulge outward and upward, creating a distended midsection

Causes

In regards to adipose tissue increases, a person generally gains fat-related weight by increasing food consumption and/or becoming physically inactive. A study, involving more than 12,000 people tracked over 32 years, found that social networks play a surprisingly powerful role in determining an individual's chances of gaining weight, transmitting an increased risk of becoming obese from wives to husbands, from brothers to brothers and from friends to friends.

Impact

Excess adipose tissue on a human can lead to medical problems; however, a round or large figure does not of itself imply a medical problem, and is sometimes not primarily caused by adipose tissue. If too much weight is gained, serious health side-effects may follow. A large number of medical conditions have been associated with obesity. Health consequences are categorised as being the result of either increased fat mass (osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, social stigma) or increased number of fat cells (diabetes, some forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease).There are alterations in the body's response to insulin (insulin resistance), a proinflammatory state and an increased tendency to thrombosis (prothrombotic state).

Social Perspective

Though excess weight has been traditionally seen in contemporary society as "unacceptable", it is becoming more socially acceptable as more and more people become overweight and obese.

Obesity among women residing in the U.S. has become more socially acceptable, likely in part because more than one-third of women ages 20 and older are obese, according to a study published in the July issue of Economic Inquiry, the Washington Times reports.

For the study, Frank Heiland, an assistant professor of economics at Florida State University's Center for Demography and Population Health, and Mary Burke, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, analyzed data from CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The researchers found that the average weight of women between ages 30 and 60 has increased by 20 pounds, or 14%, since 1976. Among women who weigh 300 pounds or more, the increase was 18%, the researchers found.

The researchers also found that self-image has changed and that obesity has become more socially acceptable. According to the study, the average women weighed 147 pounds in 1994 but stated that she wanted to weigh 132 pounds. By 2002, the average women weighed 153 pounds but said she wanted to be 135 pounds, the study found. "The fact that even the desired weight of women has increased suggests there is less social pressure to lose weight," the researchers noted.

Energy consumption

Because the body must expend energy to create fat, the amount of energy a person has to expend to lose weight is smaller than the amount they have to consume in order to gain weight.However, the body may increase its basal metabolic rate to preferentially "burn off" new calories or decrease it to conserve energy to balance out increased activity. Thus, actual weight changes vary between individuals. Also, the computations above assume that all the weight gained and lost is in the form of fat. In reality, this is a mixture of protein, carbohydrates, etc. (in muscle tissue, organs, etc.).

Consider the following theoretical calculation.

• Fat contains about 3,500 kilocalories per pound (32 kJ/g).
  • If you eat 3,500 kcal more than your body needs, you will put on 0.3 pounds (0.14 kg) of fat (assuming 30% digestion efficiency, or less depending on food conversion inefficiency not included in the "body needs" category).
  • If you burn 3,500 kcal more than you eat, you lose about 1 pound (0.45 kg) of fat, assuming that only fat is burnt (this is close to 100% since even the waste heat counts toward the 3,500 kcal). However, energy sources can come from catabolism of protein (muscles), and fat may be preferentially saved. The use of different body materials as available must be considered.

  STRICTLY FOR THE HEAD STRONG !