Additional Causes for Obesity
10 Additional Causes of the Obesity Epidemic, as you may know, obesity is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little. If you consume high amounts of energy, particularly fat and sugars, but do not burn off the energy through exercise and physical activity, much of the surplus energy will be stored by the body as fat.
It’s well accepted that reduced physical activity and fast food are linked to obesity. But the evidence that these are the main causes of obesity is largely circumstantial. To stimulate debate, experts suggest 10 other possible causes of obesity, outlined in the International Journal of Obesity.
1. Lack of Sleep. Getting too little sleep can increase body weight. Today, many get less shut-eye than ever.
2. Pollution. Hormones control body weight. And many of today’s pollutants affect our hormones.
3. Air conditioning. You have to burn calories if your environment is too hot or too cold for comfort. But more people than ever live and work in temperature controlled homes and offices.
4. Decreased smoking. Smoking reduces weight. People smoke much less than they used to.
5. Medicine. Many different drugs including contraceptives, steroids, hormones, diabetes drugs, some antidepressants, and blood pressure drugs can cause weight gain. Use of these drugs is on the upswing.
6. Population age & ethnicity. Middle-aged people and Hispanic-Americans tend to be more obese than young European-Americans. Americans are getting older and more Hispanic.
7. Older moms. There’s some evidence that the older a woman is when she gives birth, the higher her child’s risk of obesity. Women are giving birth at older and older ages.
8. Ancestors’ environment. Some announces may go back two generations. Environmental changes that made a grandparent obese may “through a fatally driven positive feedback loop” visit obesity on the grandchildren.
9. Obesity is linked too fertility. There’s some evidence obese people are more fertile than lean ones. If obesity has a genetic component, the percentage of obese people in the population should increase.
10. Unions of obese spouses. Obese women tend to marry obese men, and if obesity has a genetic component, there will be still more obese people in the next generation.
These other contributing factors deserve more attention and study. Even more explanations include: a fat-inducing virus; increases in childhood depression; less consumption of dairy products; and hormones used in agriculture. What do you think can be attributed to the epidemic?
While it’s great to consider theories about obesity. I prefer to end a conversation with If you’re overweight or obese, visit your primary care physician for advice about losing weight safely and to find out whether you have an increased risk of health problems. Additional Causes for Obesity do exist and we need to know where ad how they can be prevented.
Your doctor may ask about:
your lifestyle particularly your diet and how much physical activity you do; they’ll also ask you whether you smoke and how much alcohol you drink
any possible underlying causes for your obesity for example, if you’re taking medication or have a medical condition that may contribute to weight gain
how you feel about being overweight — for example, if it makes you feel depressed how motivated you are to lose weight your family history as obesity and other health conditions, such as diabetes, are often more common in families
As well as calculating your BMI, your general practitioner may also carry out tests to determine whether you’re at increased risk of developing health complications because of your weight.
These could include measuring your: Blood pressure, People with very large waists generally, 94 cm or more in men and 80 cm or more in women are more likely to develop obesity-related health problems.
Your doctor may also take your ethnicity into account because it can affect your risk of developing certain conditions. For example, some people of Asian, African or African-Caribbean ethnicity may be at increased risk of high blood pressure (hypertension). Healthy waist measurements can also be different for people from different ethnic backgrounds.
After your assessment, you’ll be offered an appointment to discuss the results in more detail, ask any questions that you have, and fully explore the treatment options available to you.
