People who are overweight or obese will have 3-4 times more pressure on their knee joints than their body weight while walking. Which increases the risk of knee injuries such as knee pain. Knee joint stiffness, or inability to use the knee joints to their full potential. In addition, being overweight increases the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and osteoarthritis.
Dr. Krisakamon Sitthitul, an orthopedic surgery specialist at Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital, stated that since the knee is a joint that moves almost all the time and also has to bear the ยูฟ่าเบท weight of our body. We can often find problems or abnormalities in the knee joint. There are many types of abnormalities in the knee joint. Such as knee pain, knee stiffness, knee instability, or the inability to use the knee as usual.
These abnormalities can be caused by many factors, such as repetitive use or heavy use in athletes. The nature of work that involves lifting heavy objects, standing or walking for long periods of time, inflammation in the knee joint, and natural degeneration. However, there is one main cause of these abnormalities in the knee joint: being overweight.
There have been reports of a relationship between knee pain and being overweight. This pain is more pronounced in obese people. If left untreated for a long time. It can lead to chronic pain and other complications. In addition, studies have found that being overweight or obese increases the risk of degenerative changes in the wrist, hip, and especially knee joints.
What weight is considered appropriate?
Body Mass Index ( BMI ) is a value used to measure. Whether the body’s weight is balanced in comparison to its height. It can be used as a criterion for screening people. Who are underweight, overweight or obese in adults aged 20 years and over as follows:
- A BMI of less than 18.5 indicates that your weight is underweight or thin.
- BMI 18.5 – 22.90 indicates normal weight.
- BMI 23.0 – 27.5 indicates weight exceeding the standard.
- A BMI greater than 27.5 indicates obesity.
How does weight gain affect your knees?
More force is applied to the knee joint.
Including the cartilage that covers the knee joint. In fact, the knee joint can support up to 3-4 times our weight while walking. If you weigh 80 kg. It is equivalent to the knee joint supporting 240-320 kg while walking. And will support more weight when doing other activities such as going up and down the stairs or crouching down to pick up items. Therefore, if your weight increases by 10 kg. It will increase the force on the knee joint by 30-40 kg with every step you take.
Which will cause more pain and increase the risk of osteoarthritis. Conversely, if we lose 1 kg of weight. It will reduce the force on the knee joint by 3-4 times or 3-4 kg. If we lose 10 kg, it is equivalent to reducing the force on the knee joint by 30-40 kg with every step you walk. When the force on the knee joint is reduced. It also results in less pain and inflammation of the knee joint. The knee joint works better. From the force of body weight on the knee joint. It can be seen that people who weigh more than normal are also considered to be people who use their knees heavily.
Inflammation of the knee joint
Obesity increases inflammation in the body, which triggers joint pain. Losing weight can help reduce these inflammation processes. Studies have shown that those who lose about 1 kilogram per month for 3 months to 2 years experience a significant reduction in inflammation in the body. Which in turn reduces pain in joints, such as the knees. In addition, excessive fat cells affect chemicals in the blood that affect knee inflammation, causing osteoarthritis to occur more quickly.
In addition to knee joints, being overweight also increases the risk of various diseases that adversely affect health, such as heart disease, stroke , diabetes , high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and osteoarthritis.
Weight loss techniques to reduce concerns about osteoarthritis
To avoid various abnormalities of the knee joints caused by being overweight. It is important to control weight within the standard range. Weight control can be done by exercising appropriately, along with controlling food intake by eating properly according to nutritional principles. Being beneficial, and having all five food groups. It has been reported that weight loss reduces the force exerted on the knee joints, resulting in reduced abnormalities in the knee joints and other complications, including a reduced chance of developing osteoarthritis.
Exercise
- You may start with exercises that do not impact your knee joints, such as brisk walking or swimming. These are cardio exercises that help your body burn fat and increase your body’s endurance, allowing you to exercise for longer.
- When you start exercising better, your body becomes more resilient, and your weight starts to decrease, you may start doing other types of cardio exercises such as jogging, aerobics, swimming, cycling, along with resistance exercises for your muscles, such as weight training, such as exercises to strengthen the muscles around your knees and thighs. Strong muscles will help support your knees and transfer weight from your knees to your muscles well. Therefore, your knees do not have to bear too much weight. Alternate between weight training with other parts of your body. All of this helps burn fat and build muscle with minimal muscle loss.
- It is recommended to do stretching exercises after every workout to keep muscles flexible, increase the range of motion of joints, and maintain equal balance of all muscles.
Food intake control
You should not fast, but control your diet appropriately and correctly by eating nutritious food from all 5 food groups, eating green leafy vegetables at 40-50% of your meal, eating good protein such as chicken breast, fish, lean meat, boiled eggs, reducing processed foods such as sausage, ham, Chinese sausage, fermented pork, eating unpolished flour such as brown rice, whole wheat bread, reducing the consumption of white flour, avoiding sweets, sugar, and sugary drinks.
Don’t set your weight loss goals too high.
Initially, you may want to set a goal of losing 5% of your body weight. This will make it easier to achieve your goal and will give you the motivation to continue consistently. Studies have shown that losing 5% or more of your body weight can have a positive effect on your knee joint function and reduce pain.
Get enough sleep
Lack of sleep leads to weight gain. A 2004 study found that people who slept less than 6 hours per night were 30% more likely to be obese than those who slept 7-9 hours. More recently, it has been found that there is a relationship between sleep and a hormone that controls hunger called “Ghrelin” and a hormone that signals satiety to the brain and controls appetite called “Leptin”. The decrease in sleep results in a decrease in Leptin and an increase in Ghrelin. Therefore, getting enough sleep is another way to help control weight better and reduce knee problems.
Choosing to eat a nutritious diet, exercising properly, and getting enough quality sleep will help you gradually lose weight and reduce the symptoms of knee joints. However, if after losing weight, knee symptoms such as knee pain, knee stiffness, or abnormal use do not improve. It is recommended to consult a specialist for a correct and appropriate diagnosis and treatment.