OBESITY

CAUSES OF OBESITY

Information: obesity & weight loss issues. A person becomes obese when more calories are consumed than he or she can burn. What causes this imbalance between calories taken in and calories used may differ from one person to another. However, obesity is more than just over-eating.

Genetic, environmental, psychological, and other factors may all play a part in causing obesity. What causes one person to gain weight while another person maintains his or her weight? However several factors that contribute to obesity have been identified.

Genetic factors

Heredity is linked to obesity. Obesity tends to run in families, suggesting a genetic cause. Yet families also share diet and lifestyle habits that may contribute to obesity.

Studies of adopted children show that adopted children tend to have weights closer to their biological parents than to their adoptive parents.

n this case, the person's genetic makeup had more influence on the development of obesity than the environment in the adoptive family home.

Environmental factors

Environment also strongly influences obesity. This includes lifestyle behaviors such as what a person eats and his or her level of physical activity. The tendency to eat high-fat foods, to use labor saving devices and a sedentary lifestyle with lack of regular exercise are the causes behind obesity. Note: you can lose weight by changing your eating habits and becoming more physically active.

Psychological factors

Psychological factors may also cause people to become overweight. Many people eat when they are stressed, bored or angry. Over time, the association between an emotion and food can become firmly fixed. Depression and stress can lead to obesity, and are leading causes of eating disorders.

Most overweight people have no more psychological problems than people of average weight. Still, up to 10 percent of people who are mildly obese and try to lose weight on their own or through commercial weight loss programs have binge eating disorder.

This disorder is even more common in people who are severely obese. Most eating disorders can be traced to behavioral or psychological difficulties.

Age

Metabolism slows down with advancing age. You do not require as many calories as when you were to maintain your weight.

Food Preferences

High fat foods promote obesity and too much body fat. Consumption of high fat foods (e.g., "fast foods") combined with the decreased calorie requirements because of decreased physical activity promotes obesity.

Intake of more calories than our bodies require definitely cause the caloric balance to accumulate, for every 7,500 calories that our body accumulates the weight gain is 1 KG which leads to obesity.

Gender

Gender is also an important factor. Males have a higher resting metabolic rate than females, so males require more calories to maintain their body weight. Additionally, when women become post-menopausal, their metabolic rate decreases significantly. That is part of the reason why many women start gaining weight after menopause.

Some Illnesses

Some illnesses can lead to obesity or a tendency to gain weight. These include hypothyroidism, Cushing's syndrome, depression, and certain neurological problems that can lead to overeating.

Medications

Certain medications prescribed for inflammatory conditions, seizures, and mental illness tend to increase appetite and may also decrease metabolic rate. Also, drugs such as steroids and some antidepressants may cause weight gain.

Activity level

Sedentary lifestyle is one of the principal causes for obesity. Physical activity is one of the greatest factors of the use of body energy. Active individuals require more calories than less active ones.

Additionally, activity diminishes appetite in obese individuals while increasing the body's ability to preferentially metabolize fat as an energy source.

Obesity results from a decreased level of physical activity in everyday life (such as walking to a co-workers desk instead of e-mailing them).

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