As a rule, women have more fat than men. Most doctors agree that men with more than 25 percent body fat and women with more than 30 percent body fat are obese. Almost 55 percent of American adults are considered overweight. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, someone who is 40 percent overweight is twice as likely to die prematurely as an average weight person, an effect that is seen after 10 to 30 years of being obese. While many diseases are caused as a result of obesity, some diseases, particularly cancer, are predominant in men, while others are predominant in women.
Obese men are more likely that non-obese men to die from cancer of the colon, rectum and prostate.
Likewise, obese women are more likely than non-obese women to die from cancer of the gall bladder, breast, uterus, cervix and ovaries. While the cause of the imbalance between consumption and burning calories is unclear, evidence suggests that obesity can be caused by genetic, environmental and other factors. Obesity runs in families not only because of shared genes, but also shared eating habits and lifestyles, which leads the Alabama Cooperative Extension System to encourage parents to teach their children good eating habits from the outset. Some people are also affected by binge eating disorders and others eat in response to negative emotions such as boredom, sadness or anger.