Causes of Obesity
Causes of Obesity
Causes of Obesity Acomplia Zimulti
In general mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires.
—Benjamin Franklin,
American scientist, publisher, and diplomat There is a simple equation that explains how a person’s body maintains its weight. To maintain a steady body weight, the amount of energy a person takes in (the number of calories he or she eats) must equal the amount of energy the person uses (how many calories he or she burns). To lose weight, a person must shift the balance of the energy equation so that the amount of energy coming in is less than the amount of energy going out .
This can be achieved by reducing the amount of energy taken in (that is, eating fewer calories), increasing the amount of energy used (for example, by exercising), or by combining the two strategies ((diet and exercise). Unfortunately, for millions of Americans, the energy taken in is far greater than the energy used.
This extra energy is stored in their bodies as fat, resulting in weight gain.
The human body is designed to take in and process the amount of energy it needs to perform daily activities. If the body
takes in more calories than it needs, it stores these calories as adipose tissue, or fat, for later use. In earlier times, this storage of
calories by the body helped people survive through periods when little or no food was available (famine). During times of famine,
the body burned its fat stores to obtain the energy it needed to perform normal activities. If people did not have these fat stores,
they would starve during times when less food was available.
Causes of Obesity
Energy balance refers to the balance between energy consumed, or “taken in,” by eating, and the energy expended, or “used,” by exercising and performing normal body functions. When energy consumed and energy expended is equal, as shown here, a person will maintain the same body weight. If a person eats more (increased consumption), the energy balance shifts and a person may gain weight. If a person increases exercise (expends more energy), the energy balance also changes and the person will lose weight.
As advances in farming and food manufacture made food more plentiful in many parts of the world, the need for fat stores in the body decreased. People continued to eat more calories than they needed, though, and their bodies continued to store it as fat that was not needed and would not likely be used.
It is this accumulation of fat stores that has led to the problem of obesity. Whereas in the past people would likely burn off their fat stores during times of famine, in today’s world they need to make a conscious effort
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Fat, or adipose, cells store extra energy from food. Adipose cells help insulate the body to keep it warm, cushion and
protect the internal organs, and store extra energy for later use. When people consume more energy from food, the extra energyis stored as fat in adipose cells. Years ago, this stored energy could be used to avoid starvation in times of famine. Today,people never use this stored fat because famine does not exist in developed countries. These fat cells continue to accumulate and lead to weight gain and eventually to obesity.
To increase physical activity or decrease the calories theyconsume if they want to lose weight.
FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO OBESITY
Why are some people obese and some are not? It is not acceptable in most Western cultures to be obese; therefore,
most people attempt to maintain an average weight (as discussed in Chapter 1). What predisposes certain people to become obese?
Overweight and obesity are caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Some people have a genetic
predisposition to gain weight and store fat. For others, the factors that lead to obesity can be found in the world they inhabit and the behaviors they choose.
GENETICS
Genetics clearly play a role in obesity. It has been noted that anadopted child’s body weight is usually more similar to the body
weight of his or her biological parents than that of his or her adopted parents. Identical twins usually have similar occurrences
of obesity. Studies have also shown that fraternal twins do not show this same likelihood of obesity; when one twin is overweight, the other is very often not. These examples help demonstrate that genetics play a significant role in obesity.
Researchers participating in the Human Obesity Gene Map project are in the early stages of determining which genes
contribute to obesity in people. Several alterations in normal genes have been discovered in laboratory rodents and linked to
obesity in these animals. These genes include the ob or lep gene and the Agouti gene. Researchers are working to find out if
these same genes contribute to obesity in humans.
Not all people who have obesity genes will be overweight. Conversely, some people who are overweight will not have these genes. This is because environmental factors also play a major role in causing overweight and obesity.
Метки:body functions, body weight, causes of obesity, diet, exercise, extra energy, human body, lose weight, obese, weight, Zimulti
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