What are the causes of obesity?

Obesity is usually a result of eating a lot and doing less physical activities.

People who consume a high level of energy, mainly sugars and fat, but do not burn it by doing physical exercise or activities, have surplus energy stored in their body as fat.

Calories

The value of energy is evaluated in units known as calories. A man with average physical activity requires around 2,500 calories daily for maintaining a healthy weight and a woman with average activities requires around 2,000 calories daily.

Poor diet:

• Obesity does not occur overnight. It grows gradually, due to poor diet along with poor lifestyle like:
• Consuming high amounts of fast food or processed food which are high in sugar and fat.
• Consuming too much alcohol as it comprises of high calories
• Eating more than the body requires
• Drinking a lot of sugary drinks
• Comfort eating is when we eat to feel better when we are depressed

Less physical activities:

This is another vital reason. Most of us have bad seating postures in offices for most of the day. We prefer to drive rather than walking. Most of us, tend to watch TV, play computer games or browse the internet and rarely exercise.

It is recommended that we do at least a 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity like walking fast, cycling, every week. This could be done by exercising 30 minutes every day for 5 days in a week. Obese individuals need to to do more exercise than mentioned above. They can make a slow start and then gradually increase the duration of exercise.

Genetics:

There are people with large appetite due to genetic traits. Weight loss is possible even if one is fat due to his genes.

Medical factors:

In few cases, an underlying medical condition can lead to weight gain. These factors include-

Hypothyroidism or an underactive thyroid gland wherein the thyroid gland does not produce adequate hormones

Cushing’s syndrome – is a rare disorder that leads over productions of the steroid hormones

However, if these conditions are precisely diagnosed and then well treated, they would not pose much barrier to weight loss.

Some medicines include medications for epilepsy and diabetes, some corticosteroids, some medications for treating mental illness such as antidepressants and medicines for schizophrenia can add to weight gain.

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