Weight Loss SmartSiteTM
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Causes and risks for obesityDescriptionMany people with obesity who lose large amounts of weight and gain it back often think it is their fault. They may blame themselves for not having the willpower to keep the weight off. Many regain more than they lost. Not everyone has the same ability to stay at a healthy weight. Even among people in the same environments who eat the same type of foods, some become obese and others do not. Our bodies have a complex system to help keep our weight at a healthy level. And this system does not work the same for everyone. Your body's gas gaugeThink about the gas gauge in your car. If your gas tank is full but your car's gas gauge is broken, it may read empty. You would want to put in more gas, even when the tank is already full. If you are someone who struggles to maintain a healthy weight, the reason may be that one or more of the signals that tells your brain when you have eaten enough does not work normally. In other words, your tank (stomach) may be full, but your brain (gas gauge) does not realize that. GeneticsWhy are some people overweight, while others are thin? Why do some people have trouble losing weight and keeping it off? Why do others find it easier to lose weight and keep it off? Our bodies are set to keep our weight within a certain range. That weight range is partly determined by our genes. Our genes carry certain traits that we inherit from our parents. If you have the genes for obesity and you eat a lot of high-calorie foods and don't exercise, you will probably develop obesity. It will likely be harder for you to stay at a healthy weight than someone who does not have the genes for obesity. Obesity is not caused by just one gene. There are hundreds of genes that influence body weight. Some people may have more genetic risk factors for obesity than others. Learned behaviors and habitsThe way we eat when we are children may strongly affect how we eat as adults. When we repeat these eating behaviors over many years, they become habits. They affect what we eat, when we eat, and how much we eat. Children are very good at listening to their body's signals of hunger and fullness. They will stop eating as soon as their body tells them they have had enough. However, at some point a well-meaning parent may tell them they have to finish everything on their plate. This forces them to ignore their fullness and to eat everything on their plate. As adults, these same people may say that they feel guilty if they do not eat everything on their plate. And today, portion sizes are so large that eating everything on your plate may mean you are eating too many calories. Other learned behaviors include using food to:
These learned habits lead to eating no matter if someone is hungry or full. Many people have a very hard time breaking these habits. The foods we eat when we are children may influence our food likes and dislikes for life. Being raised on foods that are processed and high in fat, salt, and sugar may make it difficult to start eating natural foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, when we become adults. Not knowing how to prepare these foods can also keep people from eating them. Our environmentWe are surrounded by many things that make it easy to overeat and hard to stay active. Many people don't have enough time to plan and prepare healthy meals. Some reasons are:
Less free time also means less time to exercise. Also, more people today work desk jobs compared to jobs in the past that had activity built in to them. Devices such as remote controls, mobile telephones, escalators, elevators, and computers all make life easier for us. But fewer trips up and down stairs and fewer walks down the hall at work to talk with a co-worker mean that we are storing more calories instead of burning them off. The average American eats 100 to 200 more calories a day more than they did 10 years ago. This can lead to a weight gain of 12 to 25 pounds (5.4 to 11 kilograms) every year. Many things have also changed how and what we eat. Some of these are:
Other causes of obesitySometimes, medical problems or treatments cause weight gain. Some of these are:
Other things that can cause us to gain weight are:
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Review Date: 1/30/2018 Reviewed By: John E. Meilahn, MD, Bariatric Surgery, Chestnut Hill Surgical Associates, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team. View References:  The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language. © 1997- A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. | ||||||||||||||||||
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