Causes of Obesity

There are many causes of Obesity, the main ones being diet and lack of exercise, although other factors such as genetics and medical conditions can play a role. These include:-

Diet & Exercise

• Diet
  A good healthy diet based on variety, balance and moderation coupled with regular exercise will usually result in a healthy physique. However, today's "fast" society means Fast Foods, high calorie counts, high fat content, and so on, all of which contribute to weight gain. Extended ingestion of these foods without a means of burning off the excess calories can only result in continued weight gain.
• Exercise
  In the wild we would have to hunt for or work for our food, activities that burned calories. Today's more sedentary lifestyle and working conditions means there is less natural usage of calories and thus weight gain.
• Age
  A function of increasing age generally means decreasing activity and metabolism which means decreased calorie usage. If eating patterns are continued as if nothing was changing then there will be a build up of fat reserves from unused calories. An appropriate decrease in food intake can go some way to avoiding this problem.

Lifestyle

• Sedentary Lifestyle
  Not only do a smaller proportion of the workforce have to exert physical effort to earn a living and thus food, but our entertainment has changed from physical activities to entertainment input via television, computers, electronic games, and so on. All this reduced exercise has an additional effect on calorie expense and adds to weight gain.
• Quitting Cigarette Smoking
  When smokers quit smoking they usually tend to gain weight due to a change in the body's functions. Smoking burns calories, raises the metabolism rate, and the nicotine also suppresses the appetite. Take away these factors when a smoker quits and the body burns less calories and the person starts eating more food. The result is an overall gain in weight. Smoking also affects a person's sense of taste meaning quitters find they are experiencing new and old taste sensations, again  an incentive to increase food intake. However, this should not be used as an excuse to keep smoking, a serious health hazard in itself.

• Alcohol Consumption
  Contrary to popular belief and according to scientific and medical research, drinking alcohol does not directly contribute to weight gain. Although alcoholic drinks do contain calories, the reason this does not directly lead to weigh gain in as yet unclear, although possible explanations include a raised metabolic rate and inefficient use of alcohol related calories. However, what is clear that alcohol drinking is often done in group situations and often sitting down or standing around for prolonged periods of time. This would of course mean less calories and burned and weight is body increased. Also foods ingested while drinking, often in excess of bodily needs, lead to an increased calorie intake.

Medical

• Pregnancy
  A woman's weight increases during pregnancy (not including the baby itself of course) through an increase in both bodily fats and fluids. . During pregnancy a woman's weight necessarily increases. Some women find this weight difficult to lose after the baby is born. This weight gain may contribute to the development of obesity in women.
• Genetics
  If there is a history of obesity in your family then there is an increase chance you may also be overweight, although this is not guaranteed. A person's genetic makeup can influence the retention of fat in the body and a bodies metabolism rate thus increasing body weight, although again, this is not guaranteed.
• Emotional Factors
  Stress, peer pressure, depression and boredom are all emotional factors that can trigger people to overeat in an attempt to compensate for the problems of life.
• Medicines
  Some medications prescribed to treat other illnesses such as headaches, migraines, mood disorders, diabetes and high blood pressure can lead to weight gain. These gains may be directly caused by the drug itself, or indirectly by changing the patient's emotional state.
• Medical Conditions
  Sometimes obesity can be caused by a specific medical condition such as hormonal imbalance or slow thyroid function. Also, some conditions such as Arthritis or Chronic Fatigue can reduce physical activity and so produce weight gain as calories are stored rather than being burned off.