Several factors can play a role in gaining and retaining excess weight. These include diet, lack of exercise, environmental factors, and genetics. Some of these factors are discussed briefly in the following section. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute offersmore information on the causes of overweight and obesity.
Food and Activity
People gain weight when they eat more calories than they burn through activity. This imbalance is the greatest contributor to weight gain.
Environment
The world around us influences our ability to maintain a healthy weight. For example:
Not having area parks, sidewalks, and affordable gyms makes it hard for people to be physically active.
Oversized food portions increase Americans’ calorie intake, making even more physical activity necessary to maintain a healthy weight.
Some people don’t have access to supermarkets that sell affordable healthy foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.
Food advertising encourages people to buy unhealthy foods, such as high-fat snacks and sugary drinks.1
Genetics
Research shows that genetics plays a role in obesity. Genes can directly cause obesity in such disorders asPrader-Willi syndrome.
Genes also may contribute to a person’s susceptibility to weight gain. Scientists believe that genes may increase a person’s likelihood of having obesity but that outside factors, such as an abundant food supply or little physical activity, also may be required for a person to have excess weight.2
Some people eat more than usual when they are bored, angry, upset, or stressed.
Studies also have found that the less people sleep, the more likely they are to have overweight or obesity. This is partly because hormones that are released during sleep help control appetite and the body’s use of energy.1
-genes, though the effect is small, and heredity is not destiny; prenatal and early life influences; poor diets; too much television watching; too little physical activity and sleep; and our food and physical activity environment.
It's caused when extra calories are stored in the body as fat. If you consume high amounts of energy, particularly found in high fat and high sugar foods, and do not use all of the energy through physical activity, much of the extra energy will be stored in the body as fat.
Obesity is commonly defined as having too much body mass. A BMI of 30 or higher is the usual benchmark for obesity in adults. A BMI of 40 or higher is considered severe (formerly “morbid”) obesity. Childhood obesity is measured against growth charts.
What's become the typical Western diet-frequent, large meals high in refined grains, red meat, unhealthy fats, and sugary drinks-plays one of the largest roles in obesity.
People ages 60 and older are more likely to be obese than younger adults, according to the most recent data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. And the problem also affects children. Approximately 20%, of U.S. children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 are obese.
They encompass anything in our environment that makes us more likely to eat too much or exercise too little. Taken together, experts think that environmental factors are the driving force for the causes of obesity and its dramatic rise.
Is it possible to be overweight and healthy? Silvana Pannain, MD: Yes, you can be overweight and metabolically healthy. At the same time, we know that obesity is a disease that affects the body in many different ways. Thirteen types of cancer and 200 other health conditions are related to obesity.
If you're asking yourself, “Why am I gaining weight when I barely eat,” several factors may be at play. Your body may be holding onto fat stores if your eating habits are inconsistent or restricted. Or, your weight gain may be the effect of a sedentary lifestyle, medical condition, or long-term stress.
Your body can meet the majority of your calorie requirements from stored fat, but total starvation is fatal in 8-12 weeks, regardless of initial body weight. Within one or two days of your last meal, your body will have exhausted all the glycogen stored in the liver and muscles.
Most often, health care professionals treat overweight and obesity by helping you adopt lifestyle changes that may help you lose excess weight safely and keep it off over the long term. In some cases, other treatments such as weight-loss medicines or weight-loss surgery can be helpful.
Overview. Overweight is a condition of excessive fat deposits.Obesity is a chronic complex disease defined by excessive fat deposits that can impair health. Obesity can lead to increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, it can affect bone health and reproduction, it increases the risk of certain cancers.
Improving eating habits and increasing physical activity play a vital role in preventing obesity. Recommendations for adults include: Keep a food diary of what you eat, where you were and how you were feeling before and after you ate. Eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
Possible causes include anxiety and depression, hormonal disorders, insomnia, and certain medications. Carrying extra pounds isn't necessarily a problem, but it could signal an underlying health concern you'll want to address. The only way to be entirely sure of what it means is to consult a healthcare provider.
1. Your Metabolism Will Slow Down to Store Fat. The more you work out or manage your calorie intake to lose weight, the more your metabolism wants to compensate by slowing down to maintain your current weight, this is called metabolic compensation. It kicks in to preserve and store fat for future energy.
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