In principle, obesity occurs when the energy supplied through the diet is higher than the required or consumed energy. The individual causes for this are varied, usually several causes together play a role.
Obesity-promoting factors
- Wrong diet as one of the causes: too much fat (especially saturated fat), many short-chain carbohydrates for example in sugary soft drinks, alcohol, fast food, snacks
- Cause lack of exercise: no sports, no regular exercise, sedentary activities, car instead of bicycle.
- Hereditary factors
- Mental causes (stress, “frustration eating”, diet as a substitute for love).
- Metabolic diseases such as hypothyroidism as well as diabetes, hormonal changes (pregnancy, menopause).
- Medication as causes (cortisone, antidepressants, diabetes tablets, beta blockers, pill).
- Maternal factors during pregnancy affecting the unborn as causes (chemicals such as bisphenol A, medications, diabetes).
Causes: Obesity and genes
Hereditary factors play a role in the causes of obesity: the tendency to obesity and to rapid weight gain or weight loss (good or poor feed converters) is inherent in the genes or acquired during pregnancy. But: Congenital factors are rarely the sole reason for obesity. The innate tendency (disposition) is usually joined by unhealthy living conditions that promote obesity as well as are considered causes.
Obesity and habits
No wonder, then, that obesity and obesity permagna are on the rise, especially in industrialized countries – after all, the lifestyle there is characterized by an oversupply of food and little physical work – which in turn are typical causes of obesity.
Often, the diet is not only characterized by excess, but also by an unhealthy composition of food. Thus, industrially produced foods enriched with many additives and flavor enhancers are often eaten. The diet with short-chain, easily digestible carbohydrates leads to less energy being used for digestive work, and some fats – contained in fast food, for example – are stored more quickly than others. This creates overweight, which is the first step toward obesity.
In addition, the diet is often irregular, meals are too large and they are eaten too quickly. The feeling of satiety is no longer even perceived or ignored. Even infants are trained to taste foods that are enriched with sugar, which leads to an unhealthy diet – and subsequently results in children who are overweight or obese.