by Timmy Duncan

Created on: November 24, 2010

Though it can sometimes feel like they are one and the same, there is a huge difference between being overweight and being morbidly obese. Being overweight might be a health concern, particularly if you are overweight for a long period of time. And it might not be the most uplifting thing in the world. But there is a difference between being overweight and being morbidly obese. The term “morbidly” isn’t added in for fun, it is entirely accurate. Those who are morbidly obese and not just overweight are actually in danger of losing their lives. Their body has become a ticking time bomb that is under immense strain just to function in the most basic ways.

Doctors sometimes try to scare you when you are merely overweight, by sort of convincing you that you are just a hop, skip and a jump away from being morbidly obese. And in a way they are correct. Once your body has started storing fat deposits, things can escalate fairly quickly and get way out of control before you have time to react. To you, it may seem like one day you just woke up and all of a sudden you were morbidly obese, when in reality the process had been escalating for quite some time.

These days it is more common to be overweight than it is to be what is considered to be a “normal” weight. But the frequency at which doctors are seeing patients who are morbidly obese is rising more and more with each year that goes by. For many of us it is hard to imagine how a person gets to be so heavy without somebody stepping in and trying to reason with them. Unfortunately, it is much more complicated than that. The denial that these people experience is unfathomable and sometimes they isolate themselves from anyone and everyone who would try to get them back on the right path.

Obesity and being overweight are really just two different levels of the same condition and those who are overweight are usually treading on thin ice. They may not even be aware of how close they are to being morbidly obese until it is pointed out to them by a doctor or a close friend or family member. Once you have established the kind of poor eating habits that contribute to being overweight, it is all too easy to keep going.

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