What causes obesity?

Siege_Tank

Eating too many calories.

Usually in the form of eating too many high calorie, low volume food, like deep fat fried french fries. 4 large servings equals an entire day's callories for most MEN

JDBLY11

Too much food, not enough movement.

And laziness. Lots of laziness.

I understand the laziness aspect, but playing devil`s advocate, a lot of people lead busy lives working or looking after the children..so how do they find the time to move?

I wouldn't say laziness, at least not in a lot of cases. I know part of my problem was that I was too busy and didn't take time for ME, but I am certainly not lazy and never was. (I work full time, take care of a 9-year-old son, take care of a disabled husband who is unable to work and I go to graduate school off and on - someday I'll get that masters...) I finally decided I couldn't keep up that pace at the weight I was at, so I moved it higher on the priority list. However, when you are really busy like that, it's easy to fall into the trap of take-out food and no exercise and just falling into bed at night - and laziness has nothing to do with it.

I think there are just so many reasons for the obesity epidemic. Busy lives is big reason, in my mind. Also, take-out food on every corner, poor nutrition education (people don't know or understand what the are eating), misconceptions about what is healthy and what isn't, warped conception of serving sizes, a culture that is based around food... You name it. there isn't a simple answer, which means there isn't a simple answer to the epidemic.

My mom had a degree in nutrition and cooked healthy meals for me growing up. We hardly ever ate fast food. of course, sometimes we did but we usually did not. My family was not that into food. We ate maybe fruit for breakfast and cereal and leftovers for lunch and then my mom would make dinner for us. My mom stayed home with my sisters and I and we were homeschooled. We were not really busy people. My mom has a pretty good take on portion sizes. I still was on the verge of obesity growing up. I really think for me it is that lifestyle activity that I need. I hope I will lose the weight and start incorporating that more into my life. My sisters are both thin as well so it really is me and my problem with food that is the problem though I can see how my weight changed throughout my life due to certain life events.

simplydelish2

Duh...more calories consumed than expended. Everything else is just an excuse!

meaningful99

As a cultural phenomenon, I think it has to do with the rise of cable TV and the Internet. Before the 80s, there really wasn't a reason to sit around on your butt for hours -- it was more fun to go out and do stuff.

Kst76

Obviously carbs, specifically fructose. And evil corporations that want to get us fat and keep us sick

I thought Sucrose ( table sugar ) was the real enemy. ( that's fructose combined with glucose ).

Kst76

Eating after 6pm

Hmmm I am interested in this reply what happens after you eat after 6pm with obesity in mind?

the intestine shut down at 5:59pm and you go into starvation mode, which causes, on average, five pound per day weight increase...

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haha

jrutledge01

eating too much causes obesity

TrailRunner61

Laziness and eating too many calories.

QJ2013

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SanteMulberry

I truly think some of it has to do with the wrong people eating the wrong foods. for example, my husband is paleo inspired and drops weight like there's no tomorrow on it. His father and sister do too. they feel amazing, energized, even, etc. But if I do paleo, and trust me, ive done it with a certified crossfit/paleo trainer supervising me whilst reading every paleo book on the planet, and the bottom line is, it does nothing for my weight loss and I feel awful on it.

I truly think that different bodies require different diets. and that there is no one size fits all diet. I cant explain it, but my body really doesnt seem to be affected by starches- white bread, cake, candy, as long as I dont over eat I will lose eating starches. I have to be careful with sodium if anything. But if my inlaws eat starch, they literally blow up.

Interesting. I must be very careful with carbs but fats appear to help me to lose weight--probably because they are so filling. I have blood sugar issues when I don't restrict carbs--even when I am exercising. When I go over 150 grams of carbohydrate per day, my weight loss stops--even though I don't go over on my calories. And if the carbohydrates are in the form of sugar and white flour, I will actually gain weight, even though I don't go over on my calories. :ohwell:

Edited to Add: Plus, I just feel plain lousy on a high carbohydrate diet--very sluggish and tired.

Kst76

Many reasons.
Eating too much
Genetics
Bad metabolism
Not moving enough

I mean, there are people who are not obese who are lazy, eat too much. Genetics also play a role.

chezjuan

A few that I can think of:

Driving instead of walking for short trips

Eating out a lot (not only do the foods tend to be more fattening than home made, but the portions are much larger now than they were 40 years ago)

lack of portion control

Poor food choices

eating too fast

Not enough activity in general

I'm guilty of most of the above, but have corrected that thanks to MFP.

JDBLY11

Million dollar question. If anyone can effectively answer this they'll be rolling in the dough. Personally, there are many factors that cause obesity disease, environment, psychological, lack of knowledge, habits, poor community planing, stigmatization of obesity along with increasing acceptance, this "pull yourself up by the boot strap mentality" which does not serve to help an individual deep in the throws of an obesigenic lifestyle, addictive behaviors...ect ect.

That's just it, no one will be rolling in dough with the right answer because the right answer isn't sexy, it doesn't have a quick fix and people would much rather come up with a plethora of excuses.

Eat too much and don't exercise enough to offset the calories in that food is the answer. The right, simple, non sexy answer.

I still believe there are a million confounding factors that cause obesity. I guess I'm in the minority on this post because I dont think that telling someone they are obese simply due to being a lazy slob is helpful nor empathetic. But I'm weird I like to l try solve problems and help people. What caused me to be obese may be completely different from the next person, and I work every day to learn something new about myself and hopefully reverse the abysmal failure rate that every obese person faces. If it was that simple we'd all be "skinny."

I know. I used to exercise a lot and I was still on the verge of obesity as a teenager and young adult. I ate way too much though. I always thought I would have been thin if I had a very active job or was an athlete. I wish I had been better at sports and pursued them more. I think it would have helped with my weight over the years and gotten me used to lots of activity. I did some sports over the years but not enough.

I really think intimate relationships are important for weight loss as well. I know when I spend time with people and do things with them I do not want to eat as much. Ever since I was a child I would not eat hardly anything when I was really busy with extended family or a friend. Of course that is me. I know some people eat a lot around other people.

JDBLY11

So many sweeping generalisations, so little time.

The reasons for the obesity epidemic are complex and the fixes for it are going to be a long time coming.

Recent research into hunger hormones, genetics and even the role of viruses indicate there is more to the story than people simply being lazy, not to mention the socioeconomics of obesity.

Moralising about gluttony and blaming individuals shuts down inquiry and curiosity into a multi-factorial, complex problem with no easy answers.

If obesity is genetic than why are my sisters thin and most of my family relatively normal sized and I am the fat one? Out of all my cousins I am the biggest and I am the only younger cousin with a serious weight problem. I know i eat way more than my sisters and I always have. My one sister eats like half or a quarter of her food and then says how full she is. My other sister is so self-disciplined with her eating and activity. She was very good at sports as a child and became a lifeguard as a teenager and runs a lot now.

brower47

Million dollar question. If anyone can effectively answer this they'll be rolling in the dough. Personally, there are many factors that cause obesity disease, environment, psychological, lack of knowledge, habits, poor community planing, stigmatization of obesity along with increasing acceptance, this "pull yourself up by the boot strap mentality" which does not serve to help an individual deep in the throws of an obesigenic lifestyle, addictive behaviors...ect ect.

That's just it, no one will be rolling in dough with the right answer because the right answer isn't sexy, it doesn't have a quick fix and people would much rather come up with a plethora of excuses.

Eat too much and don't exercise enough to offset the calories in that food is the answer. The right, simple, non sexy answer.

I still believe there are a million confounding factors that cause obesity. I guess I'm in the minority on this post because I dont think that telling someone they are obese simply due to being a lazy slob is helpful nor empathetic. But I'm weird I like to l try solve problems and help people. What caused me to be obese may be completely different from the next person, and I work every day to learn something new about myself and hopefully reverse the abysmal failure rate that every obese person faces. If it was that simple we'd all be "skinny."

I don't think calling someone a fat lazy slob is helpful either and probably why I didn't and won't. I want to help people solve their problems too and the best way to do that is to keep it simple. Educate that they need to eat less calories, increase the nutrition in the foods they do choose and make sure they know that they need to expend more energy than they consume.

With the exception of medical problems, we all became overweight for the same reason... too many calories despite what our metal state of mind was as we gained it. The answer IS simple, the application of that answer is not always so.

kristamcclugage

For me I always thought it was genetic. Yes some things are genetic that affects weight loss but the main reason I thought this was the amount of people in my family that were always overweight. After talking to many people from overweight to thin, I've come to realize that it is poor information, routine and dedication. How can we expect our children to eat right if what we make for ourselves and them isn't healthy? How can we enforce exercise if we don't enforce monkey see, monkey do?

ndj1979

we are not doing enough raspberry ketone cleanses...

nikilis

the % population increase in obesity over the last half century coincides with the invention and introduction of High fructose corn syrup which has been reformulated into 100s of food additives which have made our food overall more calorie dense.

so, food has become more calorie dense.

secondly, the food industry discovered they could increase their profits massively by "supersizing" everything. chocolate bars have tripled in size and become an every day treat through clever marketing.

denser food, bigger portions, more prevelance.

thirdly, fast food, and the effect it has had on food our attitudes to food top it all off really.

the food we eat has changed massively over the last 50 years. we as a species havent caught up. our attitudes need to change and we need to be educated correctly from a young age about this.


simply, obesity is caused by eating more cals than your body needs.


but its more complex than that, the game is fixed against us for the food industries financial gain.


higher calorie dense food, bigger portions, more prevalence, no education.

linalovekitty

I have another theory :

1.) I dont think obesity is caused by lack of exercise. Here's why.
My grandparent's generation (b. 1920's) did not exercise at all. Especially not the AVERAGE woman. They werent very active in their daily lives either. It wasnt really until the 80s', the decade of aerobics/Jane fonda/richard simmons, did exercise become a mainstream activity for all people. The baby boomers, all in their 30's at this point, probably began implementing regular workouts around this time in their lives if not later. Generations Xs&Ys are the generation that began working out in highschool, joining gyms- the 90s made gyms sexy! the 2000s gave way to yoga and pilates and crossfit and other trendy workouts for everyday people.
My point is that if anything, generations have continued to INCREASE ON AVERAGE their fitness activity levels. Every girl in highschool I knew worked out at the gym, but if I ask my grandma if she and her girlfriends worked out in any capacity she laughs. So its not a decrese in activity level that is due to our increase in fatness. deductive reasoning will tell you that.

Here's my theory:

2. Eating is now the only socially acceptable crutch that exists. In the 50s, it was not only common, but somewhat encouraged by society to DRINK alcohol and SMOKe. Everyone drank and everyone smoked. Mom had a tough day, nothing a nip and a cig couldnt help take the edge off. There was no such lable as "addict" or "alcoholic" or rehab like there is today.
Today we have shamed the smoker. Smokers are treated like trash- no more bar smoking, no more patio smoking, infact some streets dont allow it depending on what states you live in. Hotels have banned it. etc. NOw, I am not arguing for smokers, but what I am saying is smoking and drinking is shamed and regulated now more than ever before in history. If someone drinks during the workday- has a glass of wine or a cocktail- that is sooo frowned upon and can be cause for termination depending on the corporation.

However, over eating is not shamed or regulated. So CIndy the secretary can sit at her desk and inhale donuts to cope with the stress of her job, marriage, etc. But 50 years ago, she probably wouldve taken a swig of something and chain smoked. Doug the businessman can come home and inhale a large pizza to cope with his stressful day, but 50 years ago he wouldve numbed the pain with some scotch. today hed be called an alchy, but then it was so common and typical.

We as a socitety have replaced one addiction with another. and that is why people are obese

mustanggirl31

I believe it's people general not knowing what healthy food is and that even healthy foods need to be eaten in serving sizes and in combination with a balanced diet. Its also poor learned habits and hereditary things. I think we also live such busy lives that we dont take care of ourselves and take our health seriously.