Some early signals of obesity related diseases are: High blood pressure, high cholesterol levels or high blood sugar levels

Family history: People with close relatives who have had heart disease, diabetes and breast cancer are more likely to develop these problems if they are obese.

Non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: Nearly 80 percent of these patients are obese.

Gallbladder disease: The incidence of gallstones increases as your body mass index (BMI) goes beyond 29. (The BMI is found by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared.)

Heart disease: Nearly 70 percent of diagnosed cases of cardiovascular disease are related to obesity.

High blood pressure: Obesity more than doubles your chance of developing high blood pressure.

Breast and colon cancer: Almost half of breast cancer cases are diagnosed among obese women; and nearly 42 percent of estimated colon cancer cases are diagnosed among obese individuals.

Besides the risk factors mentioned above, there are certain other features of being overweight, such as:

• Low self esteem and self confidence
  
• Social inhibitions
  
• Other emotional problems
  
• Eating disorders such as alternate binging, compulsive eating and starvation (anorexia)
  
• More prone to imbalance and accidents
  
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
  
• Digestive disorders such as constipation
  
• Decrease in physical activity and difficulty in movement