Obesity and overweight refer to excess fat accumulation that slowly leads to health problems. It is a medical problem that increases your risk of high blood pressure, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular diseases, such as gallstones, heart disease, and many more.
Body mass index (BMI) is an index that is used to classify overweight and obesity. If a mass index is over 25, it is considered overweight and obese when it is over 30.
According to WHO, 1.9 billion adults aged 18 years and above were overweight, and over 650 million adults were obese in 2016. Still, WHO found that 39% of adults aged 18+ were overweight and about 13% of the world’s population were obese in 2016.
Dietary changes, behavior changes, increased physical activity, weight-loss procedures, and medications can help treat overweight and obesity. Recently, a lot of research is being done on the causes of obesity and how it can be prevented.
Here are the main factors that are the main leading causes of obesity and weight gain.
10 Causes of Obesity and Weight Gain
1. Processed Junk Foods
If you look closely, all processed foods have their descriptions saying that they contain natural minerals, proteins, vitamins, etc. However, that is not true. Junk foods have processed ingredients mixed with preservatives and additives.
Junk foods take long on the shelves, they are cheap, and they are sweet making it hard to resist them. Most food manufacturers make the foods delicious to increase sales. Once you start eating these foods, they replace the healthy bacteria in your gut and this promotes overeating.
If you overeat junk foods and stay less active, you will start adding weight and eventually become obese.
2. Genetics
The genes we inherit from our parents affect how our bodies store fat and where it is distributed. Still, genes regulate your appetite and how the body burns calories when you are active.
Children of obese parents have a high chance of becoming obese than those of lean parents. However, being born from an obese family doesn’t mean you have to be obese forever.
What you eat can have a major effect on the genes and you can easily maintain a healthy weight.
If you start eating a healthy diet, your genes get a signal and they start adapting slowly, and these can help you lose weight. So, you have to be ready for change if you want to have a healthy weight and protect yourself from chronic diseases.
3. Food Addiction
Did you know that junk foods, sweetened beverages, and processed foods are more compared to commonly abused drugs, such as cannabis, cocaine, nicotine, and alcohol? These foods replace the healthy bacteria in your with unhealthy bacteria that keep craving for more junk foods and beverages.
Junk foods cause addiction in most susceptible individuals, making them lose control over what they eat and this leads to gradual weight gain.
When you become addicted to junk foods and drinks, you lose the freedom of choice, and the biochemistry in the brain will start controlling what you eat.
For instance, you should stay away from fast foods, fried foods, sweetened beverages, and sugar. The foods have a lot of calories in a small amount of food and they easily contribute to weight gain.
4. Insulin Resistance
Insulin is an essential hormone that helps regulate energy storage, controlling blood glucose levels, and many more. This hormone tells fat cells to store fat and hold the fat they hold. Some diets, such Western diet promote insulin resistance in overweight and obese people.
Insulin resistance increases insulin levels in the body, making more energy to be stored in fat cells instead of being used. High insulin levels increase your risk of obesity and overweight.
The best way to lower insulin levels is to cut back on refined carbs while increasing fiber intake. Cutting back on refined carbohydrates helps reduce calorie intake and gradual weight loss.
5. Medications
In a certain study, it showed that there are pharmaceutical drugs that cause obesity and weight gain, and they have multiple side effects. PubMed
In another study, it shows that antidepressant medication use increases weight gain in individuals under 65 years old. PubMed Some other examples of medications that increase your risk of obesity and weight gain include diabetes, high blood pressure, and antipsychotics.
The negative thing about these drugs is that they alter the function of your brain and body, increasing appetite or reducing metabolic rate.
6. False Marketing
The bad thing about processed food producers is that they are aggressive marketers. They use unethical tactics and they market unhealthy foods saying they are healthy foods. The worst thing is that they target their unhealthy foods towards children.
In the last two decades, children are becoming diabetic, obese, and addicted to junk foods. These kids grow slowly adapting to junk foods until they are old, making them obese.
If a parent is concerned about their children’s health, they should watch what their kids are eating.
7. Leptin Resistance
Leptin resistance occurs when the brain doesn’t recognize the hormone’s signal. Meaning, even if you have enough energy stored, your brain will not recognize it and you will feel hungry every time. This makes you get addicted to food, leading to obesity and overweight.
Most individuals who are obese and overweight have high leptin levels. If you are healthy or have balanced body weight, the levels of high leptin are linked to reduced appetite.
When the leptin hormone is working well, it should tell your brain how much energy is stored and how much is needed.
Here are some of the symptoms of leptin resistance:
- High inflammation levels
- Obesity and overweight
- High leptin levels
- Finding it hard to control food cravings, especially high sugar, high-fat, and junk foods
- Experiencing difficulty when trying to lose weight.
8. Sugar
Any form of sugar is bad for your health. More so, it becomes worse when you eat foods and drinks with added sugar. Sugar changes the biochemistry and hormones in your body when consumed in excess. Excess sugar consumption leads to obesity and weight gain.
Always know that half glucose is half fructose. Glucose comes from a variety of foods but the majority of fructose is from added sugar. Added sugar doesn’t have the same benefits as glucose from natural sources.
In addition, sugar leads to increased energy storage every day and this slowly leads to obesity. So, avoid eating any form of sugar in excess so that you can protect yourself from diabetes and obesity.
9. Eating a Diet High in Simple Carbohydrates
Scientists believe that simple carbs, such as desserts, fructose, sugars, wine, beer, soft drinks, beer, etc. easily contribute to weight gain and obesity. These foods are rapidly absorbed in your bloodstream than complex carbohydrates, such as vegetables, brown rice, pasta, grains, raw fruits, and many more.
Furthermore, simple carbs have higher insulin release that leads to weight gain.
10. Availability of Food
Lastly, another factor that is leading to obesity and weight gain is food availability. Food is everywhere, especially junk and processed food. If you look at the shops across the streets, they display tempting foods that attract your attention.
These are fast foods that offer fast energy boost but after some minutes you will feel hungry again and crave for more. Furthermore, junk foods are cheap than whole foods and healthy foods worldwide. This makes them readily enough for those who are used to processed foods that unhealthy bacteria thrive in.
Therefore, try avoiding those junk foods and sweetened beverages if you want to fight obesity and overweight.
Wrapping Up
Overall, reversing obesity and overweight is easy, but it requires patience and some hard work. While sometimes it can be hard to control how our bodies work, you can control your eating habits and change your lifestyle. Furthermore, fasting is another simple way that can help you control obesity and overweight.
Unless you have a medical condition that is limiting you, you have the power to control your weight. Therefore, you must change your eating habits and food culture if you want to lose weight.
