Obesity is a complex phenomenon, as anyone who has repeatedly (and unsuccessfully) tried to lose weight knows. Numerous factors can result in obesity and many of these are related. Here are five examples.
Diet and Exercise
Generally, eating correctly and getting adequate physical exercise is the answer to obesity. There are health risks to carrying excess body fat, e.g., heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Obesity is related to metabolic syndrome, characterised by high blood sugar levels and blood pressure, with a poor blood lipid profile. This syndrome increases the chances of developing disease conditions.
Despite the perils of being overweight, many people fail to lose weight. Part of the problem is the availability of nutritionally weak processed foods and junk meals and the lack of affordable and accessible healthy foodstuffs. Sugar is a big culprit which causes the brain to emit feel-good hormones, making it addictive. Changing from a non-industrialised diet to a Western one causes weight gain.
A lack of adequate sleep has also been linked to obesity. Television is a two-edged sword as it reduces physical activity and promotes unhealthy eating in ads.
Childhood obesity is likely to persist into adulthood, largely as a result of learning bad eating and exercise habits. Ethnicity may predispose some groups to obesity. Poorer people struggle to purchase items for a healthy diet or access a gym. Emotions like stress, anger, and boredom can incline people to overeat.
Genetics
Obesity is more likely to occur in the offspring of overweight parents. While genetics can play a role, this is a fairly small one. It is usually more a case of what children were taught, their level of wealth, and low diet IQ.
Hormones
Insulin resistance is a cause of obesity. It applies to nine percent of the population. However, the western diet is largely to blame for the development of insulin resistance. Simple carbohydrates lead to a rise in blood glucose, causing the pancreas to release insulin quickly, which encourages a higher level of insulin to be released.
People who eat several small meals a day are less likely to be overweight than those who eat less frequently but have bigger meals. Blood sugar and cholesterol levels tend to be lower in the former group. Thus, they do not experience spikes in insulin.
Disease Conditions
There are a few diseases that have been linked to obesity, for example, Prader-Willi syndrome, Cushing’s syndrome, hypothyroidism, and polycystic ovary syndrome. The latter may play a role in infertility too.
Drugs such as Clomid can help women to ovulate, thus increasing their chances of falling pregnant. An overweight woman may require a higher dose than one of average weight. The dose needs to be adjusted for BMI. Unfortunately, many physicians are reluctant to help a woman fall pregnant while she is obese, but they can attend a fertility clinic with no BMI limit. A clomid weight loss plan helps them when there is otherwise a BMI limit.
Medications
Prescription medicines are sometimes to blame for weight gain. These include anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, corticosteroids, antidepressants, antihistamines, diabetes medication, antihypertensives, and oral contraceptives. Weight gain is a side effect of these medicines. Patients should discuss alternatives with their doctors, as many of these substances are necessary to manage severe chronic conditions.
The biggest contributor to weight gain is overeating and not doing sufficient exercise to countermand it. Nevertheless, some women have other factors to contend with and there is seldom an easy solution for them.
