Ifa person is obese, it means that the individual is too heavy. Theproblem of being overweight is caused by an excessiveaccumulation of fat. Research shows that obesityhas been associated with various diseases, such as cardiovasculardiseases (心血管疾病),sleep apnea (睡眠窒息),certain types of cancer, gout (痛風)and osteoarthritis (骨關節炎).Obesityhas also been foundtoreduce a person’slife expectancy.

   Aperson’s“BMI”(bodymass index)can show if a person is obese. The BMI is calculated bydividing an individual’[!--empirenews.page--]sweight in kilograms by the square of his or her height inmeters.So, a person who weighs 80 kilograms and is 1.6 meters tall will havea BMI of 31.25. A person with a BMI higher than 30 is obese. A BMI ofbetween 18.5 and 24 is said tobe healthy.

   Obesityhas become a serious public health problem. For the first time inhuman history, there are now more overweight people than people whoare starving. People who are overweight may need medical care moreoften than healthy people. Obesitywastes lots of money.

   Butwhy are so many peopleobese?There are many reasons, but the two most importantones are that we eat too much food and do not exercise as much as weshould.

                     (Excerptedfrom Successwith Reading1,P.38-39)