Welcome to Obesity Guide
Diabetes Obesity Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Causes of Obesity – Many and Varied
from:Before we can address the causes of obesity, we have to understand what obesity really is. Obesity is simply “increased body weight due to excessive accumulation of fat.” Humans and other mammals must have a natural energy reserve stored in the fatty tissue. We need a certain amount of fat as stored energy and for insulating the body. However, this condition can increase to the point where it becomes a health concern. Too much fat can lead to serious health problems.
But that quick and easy dictionary definition only goes part of the way to defining obesity and does very little to clarify the causes of obesity. For many years, plumpness and being well fed was an indication of the economic success of American culture. Choosing to be a bit overweight was, at one time, one of the causes of obesity! But now, as the health risks have been identified, being overweight is increasingly seen as unhealthy.
As the subject of obesity has been studied, medical professionals have identified a number of causes of obesity in addition to eating too much and exercising too little. As a place to start, even the National Institutes of Health state that “obesity occurs when a person consumes more calories from food than he or she burns.” The institutes recognize that our bodies need calories to sustain life and be physically active. The trouble begins when there is an imbalance between how much we eat and how much energy we use.
However, beyond the now-obvious connection between food intake and energy use, the causes of obesity include:
• Genetic factors – Obesity runs in families.
• Lifestyle habits – Young people learn eating/exercise habits from
their family members
• Environmental/Social Factors – Society’s habits change: less
exercise, more fast food etc.
• Medication – Some drugs, including some anti-depressants, can
contribute to obesity.
Poverty and a lower level of education have also been identified as possible causes of obesity. According to the National Institutes of Health, “One reason for this maybe that high-calorie processed foods cost less and are easier to find and prepare than healthier foods, such as fresh vegetables and fruits. Other reasons may include inadequate access to safe recreation places or the cost of gym memberships, limiting opportunities for physical activity.”
Recent research also points to a “toxic environment” as one of the causes of obesity. According to a professor of clinical pediatrics in California, food-manufacturing practices in recent years have created this toxic environment that dooms children to being overweight. He believes that high-calorie, low-fiber diets promote hormonal imbalances that encourage children to overeat.
The jury is still out when it comes to causes of obesity, though much progress has been made toward identifying the path we need to take for a healthy life.
Diabetes Obesity News
Obesity and diabetes seem like freight trains running out of control
A leading nutritional expert has called for more to be done by influential figures within the UK health and fitness industry after branding worrying obesity and diabetes levels as "freight trains running out of control".
Read more..."Pre-diabetes," diabetes rising among U.S. teens
By Amy Norton NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The percentage of U.S. teenagers with "pre-diabetes" or full-blown type 2 diabetes has more than doubled in recent years -- though obesity and other heart risk factors have held steady, government researchers reported Monday. The good news, the researchers say, is that teen obesity rates leveled off between 1999 and 2008 -- hovering between 18 percent ...
Read more...Obesity, sedate lifestyles drive diabetes crisis
While cancer gets most of the headlines, another equally vexing disease is increasing fast. Your chances of suffering diabetes has risen to one in three.
Read more...Childhood obesity contributes to rise of diabetes
With diabetes on the rise among children, doctors and nutritionists are tackling the problem of overweight children. Getting the entire family involved is key, they say.
Read more...A Dire Sign Of The Obesity Epidemic: Teen Diabetes Soaring, Study Finds
The proportion of 12- to 19-year-olds who report having diabetes or "prediabetes" increased from 9 percent in 1999 to 23 percent in 2008, according to a paper published in the journal Pediatrics . "This report really sounds the alarm," says one researcher.
Read more...A Dire Sign Of The Obesity Epidemic: Teen Diabetes Soars
Karlton Hill was only 12 years old when when he found out he had diabetes. Even though he was only in seventh grade, Karlton knew what diabetes was; he had watched the disease destroy his great-grandmother's life.
Read more...Regular eating times, extended daily fasting may prevent diabetes, obesity
It turns out that when we eat may be as important as what we eat. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that regular eating times and extending the daily fasting period may override the adverse health effects of a high-fat diet and prevent obesity, diabetes and liver disease in mice.
Read more...