In our modern society, lack of exercise and poor nutrition mean that the personal energy balance is often unbalanced. The excess energy is then stored in fat deposits. When there is a strong increase in body fat and a high level of overweight, physicians speak of obesity or adiposity. Increasingly, children and adolescents are also suffering from this. This results in health problems for the metabolism, joints and psyche.

Active against overweight

Whether one completes a cure because of predominance or individually as an impulse a vacation for removing books. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern offers a wide range of possibilities between the Baltic Sea and the lake district. The most important components are nutrition and exercise. Some suggestions for this can be found below.

Baltic Sea vacation with fasting hiking

Sitting is the new smoking. In fact, the everyday life of many people is characterized by acute lack of movement. Not only the vocational activity we spend mainly in sitting, also the spare time takes place frequently passively before the computer or television. An active Baltic Sea vacation with chamfering moving makes various opportunities possible for you to use the vacation time for conscious movement by foot or also on the wheel. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has numerous worthwhile destinations to offer, which are easy to reach via an extensive network of hiking and biking trails.

Exercise in water with overweight

Floating weightlessly in water means pure relaxation, especially for people who are overweight. Heavily stressed bones, joints and ligaments can relax and the active movement of hips, knees and feet is easier in the water. In the health resorts and spas in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern there are numerous opportunities to do water gymnastics under professional guidance and to strengthen one's fitness.

Obesity - help from a nutritionist

The region's health resorts have nutrition specialists who assess the individual eating habits of people suffering from obesity, identify any need for action and offer tailored advice, including dietary recommendations. In addition, doctors take an accompanying social and addiction history in order to better identify private or professional problems. Only in this way can the causes of obesity be specifically identified and suitable therapies derived.

Fasting for overweight

Fasting cures help overweight people to break habitual eating patterns, detoxify the body and find inner peace. The Baltic Sea coast with its sandy beaches, dune landscapes and forests, national parks and inviting islands (Rügen, Usedom, Hiddensee) is ideal for fasting hikes. In addition, the classic fasting periods in spring and autumn are outside the main season and allow for extended coastal walks full of peace and relaxation. Yoga and meditation enrich the offer, which reaches from the ayurvedischen welfare chamfering, over the basis chamfering up to chamfering after Buchinger.
Further information on fasting can be found here.

Certified treatment centers for obesity

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is one of the German states with the most overweight people. Every third adult is overweight, every fifth even severely overweight. Therefore, several highly specialized medical facilities have been created for prevention and therapy of obesity (adiposity). The obesity centers in Rostock at Klinikum Südstadt, in Greifswald at Unimedizin, in Wismar at Sana HANSE Klinikum and in Neubrandenburg at Dietrich Bonhoeffer Klinikum offer the experience and expertise of interdisciplinary teams.

As an up-and-coming health state, the local spa clinics also offer good conditions for counteracting obesity. Apart from that, overweight and obesity should also be a reason for a vacation between the Baltic Sea and the lake district: Losing weight on vacation is not sustainable for short stays. Much more important are inspirations to change the lifestyle sustainably. How about making cooking the theme of the vacation?

Obesity centers

In the four major centers, internists, psychologists, physiotherapists, nutritionists and surgeons work intensively together. Patients receive professional, individual nutritional counseling and behavioral therapy, internal and endocrinological clarification of concomitant diseases, and adapted sports and exercise programs. If conventional therapies remain unsuccessful, surgical obesity operations with gastric bypass, gastric banding or tubular stomach can also be considered.

Obesity centers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania:

• Rostock
• Greifswald
• Wismar
• Neubrandenburg
  

Father-child cures and mother-child cures

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, there are numerous spa clinics that specialize in mother-child cures, father-child cures and offers for preventive care, rehabilitation and recreation. Since people who are overweight usually have additional health problems, the Ostsee-Kurklinik Fischland, for example, specializes not only in family cures but also in the treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular system, respiratory tract and skin, as well as metabolic disorders, states of exhaustion and allergies.

Optifast program

By telemedicine or as short program the Optifast program can be integrated into the vacation. At the nourishing center of the University of Greifswald individual courses are offered for it, which aim at a weight reduction by purposeful nourishing change. After so-called Optifast modules of the enterprise Nestlé Health Science is fasted under medical and therapeutic guidance. Subsequently, a change is made to a healthy mixed diet. For long-term success, it is necessary to integrate the program of healthy eating and exercise learned during the fast permanently into everyday life.

More information about the Optifast program in Greifswald can be found at the following link:

• Optifast

Learning to cook healthily

A Baltic Sea vacation offers time and opportunity to learn and experience healthy cooking. Ready-made meals contain many hidden fats and too much sugar. Therefore, it is advisable to use fresh regional products. Spa facilities and hotels regularly offer cooking classes for this purpose.

Good to know

Causes and consequences of obesity

Obesity can have many causes. Lack of exercise, malnutrition, hormonal disorders and genetic inheritance are often linked. Psychological factors also have an influence - for example, loneliness, loss of a partner or job, or depression. The main cause, however, remains poor eating habits.

Consequential diseases of obesity

Common secondary diseases of obesity are cardiovascular diseases, arteriosclerosis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, joint diseases, venous disorders, sleep apnea, hormonal disorders, diseases of the gall bladder and liver, and an increased risk of various cancers of the uterus, breast, prostate, gall bladder or intestine. In addition, obese people are subject to high levels of psychosocial distress and are frequently affected by anxiety or depression.

BMI as an indicator of obesity

One indicator of obesity is the body mass index (BMI). BMI is calculated by dividing one's body weight by the square of one's height in meters. So if a woman is 1.69 meters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, she has a BMI of 29.8. Calculation: 85 : (1.69 x 1.69) = 29.8. From a BMI of over 25, doctors speak of overweight, and from a BMI of over 30, obesity is present. The guideline values for the average energy intake for people of different ages depending on the resting energy metabolism and physical activity can be found here.

For school children up to puberty there is a simple rule of thumb. The upper limit for normal weight is the height of the child in centimeters minus 100.

Obesity - When does surgery make sense?

Initially, doctors will use so-called conservative therapies to achieve the desired weight reduction through a change in diet and more physical exercise. However, if these therapies are unsuccessful and the BMI remains above 40, surgical therapy may come into focus. This involves surgically reducing the size of the stomach, which results in a faster feeling of fullness. Like any surgical intervention, however, this procedure is not free of possible complications.