Is it Safe to Dive if you are Obese

Wondering whether it is safe for obese people to go scuba diving because you yourself are a bit chunky! Well, Scuba diving is an activity enjoyed by almost everyone but for obese people there are certain peculiarities. Obesity and scuba diving together becomes a controversial topic because of the risk of certain diseases in obesity with diving, wetsuit and weights and coexisting diseases.

Since obese people have extra volume of natural body fat, they are less dense as compare to water. As such obese person becomes more buoyant than average scuba diver which is further increased with their neoprene wet suite. In order to compensate the difference in buoyancy they are required to carry heavier weight belt. Because of this extra weight obese scuba diver has to spend more energy thereby requiring more effort to propel. This takes more consumption of air and therefore obese scuba divers have to take large air tanks.

There are people who come in overweight category but their fitness is comparable to the average fitness of ideal individuals. If you are one of those then you will possibly have less difficulty in scuba diving with the exception of equipment problems. However if you are overweight and out of shape that is a bigger problem and you may not be even found fit for scuba diving. If you are too fat or out of shape then better improve your overall fitness rather than troubling yourself. Focus on cardiovascular fitness as this improves air consumption rate and general comfort while scuba diving. Common problems that an obese scuba diver faces include:

· An obese scuba diver has to put in more effort to swim the same distance than any average diver has to with less effort.

· Another critical condition for obese divers occurs when the dive trip lasts for several consecutive days with frequent scuba dives. There is risk that fatty tissues absorb and store high quantities of nitrogen thus increasing the risk of Decompression Sickness. Because of harder workload for obese divers their tissues start absorbing higher amounts of nitrogen.

· Also since obese people are expected to develop endocrine diseases like diabetes so obese people should first be examined thoroughly for such diseases before they learn scuba diving.

· Orthopedic problem or joint problems which are also associated with obesity is likely to develop as obese scuba divers are required to carry extra weight with them.

· Another danger for obese scuba divers comes from hyperthermia that can cause heart attack or stroke.

Problems faced by the obese people in scuba diving are more or less similar to those they experience when they walk on ground. If you are obese and going for scuba dive then you should follow special instructions. Also take an experienced dive buddy to your dive trip so that he can assist you if you get in some trouble. So if you are obese but scuba diving is irresistible for you then do not get disheartened. Go and have a safe scuba dive but with certain reservations!