It can be said that by and large obesity affects those people who neglect to look after their general health. As such it's a complaint that's totally preventable - with care and diligence the worst aspects of the condition can be prevented.

However those sufferers who experience the severe medical problems associated with the condition - type 2 diabetes, heart diseases - can expect to live 9 years LESS than a person of normal weight.

Once considered to be a problem confined mainly to the affluent west, it is now being seen in those countries experiencing a speedy expansion in their living standards. However the countries with the biggest increase in numbers are still the western countries, with particularly large increases being seen in children.

Obesity is a term used for those people who are grossly overweight as defined by the Body Mass Index scale. This is a scale used by the medical profession to determine the weight status of an individual. It means a person who is well in excess of an ideal weight for a person of the same age and height; a condition that has the probability of progressing to morbid obesity - an extreme form of obesity - and thus lead to a number of life menacing conditions.

It's now accepted by nutritionists that the principal causes of overweight and obesity are a poor diet with an absence of vital fresh fruits and vegetables, and a life without regular exercises or beneficial physical activity.

Morbid obesity is a more prominent form of obesity characterized by a super over-abundance of body fat. It's responsible for a large number of health problems many of which result in death. Some of these conditions are type 2 diabetes, heart ailments, some forms of cancer, sleep apnea, and various mental problems such as depression.

The number of people experiencing the effects of obesity has exploded in the last 20 years with the result that the World Health Organization is now carefully watching the situation and looking at how countries are coping with ever-increasing health budgets.

Once considered to be a social problem rather than a health problem, obesity and its more troublesome condition, morbid obesity, is now regarded as a major disease by governments and the medical community. By the WHO estimates, there are more than 300 million people affected throughout the world with more than a billion people reputed to be. With every justification, it can be called an obesity epidemic.

Many Western countries are experiencing ever growing numbers of sufferers, some more so than others.

The US has the highest proportion of sufferers with about 30% of the adult population said to be afflicted, with the incidence particularly high amongst Afro-Americans and people of Spanish decent. The obesity rate for children is also the worst in the world, with every indication it'll get worse before there's any improvement.

Other countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada and many European countries have rates that are cause for serious concern with the number of overweight children in these countries mirroring the increase in the US.

Towards the end of 2006 the World Health Organization in conjunction with European countries drew up plans to firstly halt the spread of the disease, then to reduce its effects word-wide.

The medical research companies and organizations are playing their part too in helping to combat this problem. A recently marketed product, derived from the flesh of a plant, has proven to be able to reduce the amount of fat consumed after a meal and eject it by normal means through the body. After stringent clinical tests, it was proven that 28% of such fat is ejected and not stored as body fat. This product is also a proven appetite suppressant, thus confirming its position as a successful weight loss product.

On all continents the number of people affected by obesity and is growing at an alarming rate. However, pills are available to help with the problem and one such pill is medically proven to be the by dispelling excess fat from the body and acting as an .