What do you think is the primary reason for obesity?

My deep llove for burritos and my overeating patterns

mine was the lack of knowledge on what food was really worth. not knowing what certain foods contributed to my body. so, putting whatever and however much in there not knowing the damage.

I thought it might be interesting to see what our site feels might be the root cause(s) to our country becoming 66% overweight or obese.

Is it due to?

1. Poor food choices
2. Portion control
3. Lack of exercise
4. Lack of sleep
5. Physical problems (thyroid, hormonal imbalances, diseases, chronic illnesses, genetics)
6. Mental issues (lack of an equal quality of education)
7. Emotional problems (stress, finances, job loss, divorcee or a bad relationship. etc.)
8. Lack of self-control or will-power
9. Lack of availability to get quality foods in some areas
10. Sedentary lifestyles now common place in the work and home environments
11. Fast food restaurants
12. Regular restaurants who in many cases serve portion sizes twice what one should eat
13. TV/Cell phones/Internet/Gaming
14. Something else

Sadly, there is no primary reason for obesity in America. It's a complex and complicated problem that has significant factors that include all of the above. This is why demonizing one food group or trying to address only one of these things is not going to fix the problem. We need comprehensive and fundamental change to the way our society eats and lives to have any hope of reversing it.

America.

Do you ever look around in the gas station at the readily available things to eat and notice MAYBE a banana if anything. There are 1000s of varieties of things to eat on the go there and if you find one fruit basket, it's a shock.

20-30 years ago people at real food. That's why if you look at your parents or grandparents wedding photo they look SKINNY to us now, but in all actuality, they would have been perfectly healthy.

Please note that I understand that there are hormonal or medical reasons for obesity, my comments do not include this population as their solution is more complex and starts with getting answers for their medical issues.

I think in many cases (not all) it has to do with societal complacency. As a society we’ve become pretty lazy and are not proactive about our lifestyles as far as activity levels and food thoughtfulness or accountable for ourselves and our decisions.

Also, I think it has a lot to do with our society’s idea of more is more, or quantity over quality. We want bigger plates of food to “get more for our buck” when we can eat less and be more satiated with higher quality ingredients.

We have a lack of will power or self control, we find drinking and eating as social activities as opposed to playing sports and being active, we take our food away from the table when people tend to eat more when distracted, we blame the manufacturers of our food for our health issues instead choosing to educate ourselves and take accountability for our food decisions, we are content with eating out of a bag or box, we are too lazy to put in the time and effort and instead gravitate toward the quick fixes that aren’t a sustainable fix. A change in our obesity rates requires a societal change with people wanting to be educated and deciding to be accountable about their bodies and their lifestyles.

Our biology hasn't caught up with our environment. Our bodies are used to physical work and periodic famines and simpler, less calorie dense food.

I don't think people are lazy, stupid, weak or emotionally fragile. Or any food is evil, deadly or addictive.

This. Grandma and Grandpa didn't go to work and then go to the gym. They didn't count calories, or check the fat intake. Their jobs were workout enough. My grandfather worked construction, the other one farmed. My grandmothers cooked and cleaned without aids of dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, washing machines. They made real from scratch food from their gardens (no canned goods, the chicken came from outside in the yard and grandma killed and dressed it, sauces in jars, made their own preserves, bread, etc.). Soda was a luxury. The concept of fast food was a new concept, and eating out to them was saved for fancy occasions. No, they weren't necessarily eating healthy (fried chicken and everything had bacon grease in it), but they burned way more calories doing their daily chores than someone working customer service 60 to 80 hours a week, who have access to fast food and soda, who is trying to get home to take care of their kids, who probably ate some processed gunk at school.

I always blamed the spoon

I think processed foods are engineered (yes, engineered, as in a factory or lab...) to be addictive. High-fructose corn syrup, for example, is very addictive, and it's in a TON of processed/fast food. Same with MSG. These kind of foods are manufactured to leave the consumer wanting more...hence the profit.

Another big factor would be how our culture treats food. Think about it...cake on birthdays (not just for you, for everyone, on everyone's day of birth), big feast at Thanksgiving, big feast at Christmas (or Hannukah, breaking of Ramadan fast, etc.), big feast at Easter (or Passover), getting drunk on high-calorie brews on Cinco De Mayo, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween, Halloween candy, ice cream or chocolate when you are sad, chocolate on Valentine's Day, big dinner dates, potlucks, BBQ's, eating contests, binge eating, eating your feelings...

Our culture sees food as a reward and an emotional, rather than physical and nutritional, experience. I think this emphasis on food being all sorts of things it truly is not--love, comfort, reminiscence, joy, etc.--that contributes to the problem. Remember, we are a very stressed out culture as well. And most of us do stress eat.

you pulled the words right out of my head

I think the PRIMARY reason is all of the overly processed foods available that are "convenience" foods. Our bodies just don't process them properly and they leave us unsatisfied and wanting more nutrients. Eating more "real" and "clean" foods is the best thing we can do for ourselves to leave us with more energy and vitality and feeding our bodies properly.

The crap they are putting and processing our foods with. The hormones, antibiotics, and who knows what else they are putting into our meats. Being more sedentary is a factor, but in all reality people have been cooking with animal fats and eating high calorie foods forever. The difference today is that our bodies are not able to process these chemical additives and the high amounts of processed sugars going into everything! WE ARE ORGANIC CREATURES...YOU CAN'T WATER A PLANT WITH GASOLINE AND EXPECT IT TO LIVE! So why would we think our organic bodies could thrive when we are loading it down with chemicals?

I know the food industry should take a lot of the responsibility, but it's not their fault entirely. I believe greed is the main issue. All types of foods are readily available to almost everyone! We are not content with just eating one slice if cake......we have to have 2 or 3. We think 'it's there, why not eat it, why let it go to waste!'

I know many people won't agree with me and think I'm being mean and unfair, but I think people need to stop making excuses for themselves and realise that it is themselves that are eating all this food, not the food companies. Yes they are putting additives and sweeteners into food, but they are designing products that their customers want, foods that are in demand!

I am not just blaming other people, I too am accepting that I spent many years being greedy. Not only wanting certain foods, but on huge portions. It's tough to break this cycle, but it has to be done. We have to take responsibility and stop blaming others.

Being uneducated about food/meals/ingredients/calories/daily needs. How many of us have eaten something only to look it up later and go "holy crap I thought it was a lot better (or not that bad)". Now imagine doing that for years but never looking it up. That adds up quickly. No one is to blame but ourself.

I think processed foods are engineered (yes, engineered, as in a factory or lab...) to be addictive. High-fructose corn syrup, for example, is very addictive, and it's in a TON of processed/fast food. Same with MSG. These kind of foods are manufactured to leave the consumer wanting more...hence the profit.

Another big factor would be how our culture treats food. Think about it...cake on birthdays (not just for you, for everyone, on everyone's day of birth), big feast at Thanksgiving, big feast at Christmas (or Hannukah, breaking of Ramadan fast, etc.), big feast at Easter (or Passover), getting drunk on high-calorie brews on Cinco De Mayo, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween, Halloween candy, ice cream or chocolate when you are sad, chocolate on Valentine's Day, big dinner dates, potlucks, BBQ's, eating contests, binge eating, eating your feelings...

Our culture sees food as a reward and an emotional, rather than physical and nutritional, experience. I think this emphasis on food being all sorts of things it truly is not--love, comfort, reminiscence, joy, etc.--that contributes to the problem. Remember, we are a very stressed out culture as well. And most of us do stress eat.

I can agree. They started adding HFCS into an awful lot of foods between 1975-1985...which is when America started to gain weight.

Also. The BMI scale change of 1998. Millions of Americans became "fat", without gaining a pound.
http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/9806/17/weight.guidelines/

This has become an epidemic that has far more implications than the scale. I run a non profit nutrition company and our primary focus is helping people understand how obesity is a leading risk factor to diabetes, cancer, strokes, kidney disease and heart disease. Especially in athletes or those who grew up active. When I speak to groups or individuals, one of the first questions I ask is "What does eat healthy and exercise mean"? Because that's what everyone hears from their doctor, neighbors, in the news and posted on every billboard. And in 4 years, I have never had 1 person answer that question correctly. It's always eat fruit and veggies and walk. People need to be educated about the value of protein, meal portions, active muscles ability to uptake glucose when insulin is present, etc. When we yo yo diet, or deny our body essential nutrients like carbs, we are killing our liver and pancreas. The pancreas creates so much insulin...more than it was designed to carry that in the case of diabetics, at some point it just stops. It's not just our grandparents anymore. This is becoming more prevalent in obese teenagers.

I believe the primary reason for obesity today is education. Not inherited nor genetics. I have never scene an obese skeleton before. Before losing 100+ lbs and removing these risk factors from my life, my parents (who are both diabetics) almost passed down their disease b/c they fed me junk food my entire life. And even worse, I was obese b/c I only ate 1 meal a day. We have to educate the children and the parents until it becomes a lifestyle change. Kids don't prepare the meals or do the grocery shopping. I have 4 boys and my kids eat what I put on the table. As a responsible parent I educate my kids about healthy eating and how it reaches several other areas of life besides the mirror. I'm proud to say that my 14 year old who was at a high risk factor has already completed his early morning empty stomach cardio and is in the kitchen right now preparing his own oatmeal b/c he gets education from me weekly about obesity and what it can lead to.

I encourage everyone to go to http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/ and watch these videos. You can watch them online for free if you don't have HBO. This obesity problem affects everyone. The obesity healthcare cost for tax payers (not just the obese) is over $150 billion / year and growing astronomically. Companies can legally fire you or deny your healthcare b/c of obesity. It doesn't matter what background we come from. Anyone who has taken the time to seek out and join MFP is at least seeking knowledge or trying to fix the problem.

James, I don't think anyone would argue that as a population (in the affluent world), we're taking in more calories than we need. But the question is really why are we doing it now, when we didn't do it (so much) 40 years ago? I don't believe it's because people were more educated 40 years ago and that foods were better labelled, because I don't remember that being the case. So I think we have to look at other things that were different 30 or 40 years ago.

100% agree, things exploded 30 years ago. Why? What exactly happened 30 years ago to change the gradual increase into a sharp one? Andy why is that, within a few years of having access to "american foods" does obesity explode in other countries. When feasibly, they are still eating pretty similar to their old foods. And why do the other health problems increase significantly. I.e.Samoans were "fat but fairly healthy." Then the american food showed up and diabetes and high blood pressure became common. Considering it has been "good to be fat" there for thousands of years...how did this stuff only become a problem in recent years?