8 Likely Causes Of Obesity

If a person exceeds his or her desirable weight by more than twenty percent due to the accumulation of body fat, then that individual is said to be obese. Eating too much calorie laden food causes a person to become obese gradually.

In short an imbalance between the calories consumed and the calories expended, by way of physical activity, gives rise to obesity. The problem of obesity is rampant in the United States. Individuals whose Body Mass Index or BMI is higher than thirty are termed to be obese.

In fact even young children have become victims of obesity due to the sedentary lifestyle that they lead and the calorie rich food that they eat. In the United States millions of dollars are spent on various dieting and exercise programs to coax people to shed their excess weight.

Obesity is the leading cause of many health complications. People who leave their burgeoning weight unchecked may suffer from a variety of health complications from osteoporosis to heart ailments. Some of the common health problems arising due to obesity are stroke, diabetes, different types of cancer, gallbladder disease, asthma, gout, osteoarthritis and sleep apnea to name a few.

Recently a strong link has been established between obesity and depression as well.? So the negative effects of obesity are wide ranging, causing a variety of physical and psychological problems.

There are many intrinsic as well as extrinsic factors which can cause obesity. Intrinsic factors include our body genes, while extrinsic factors comprise among other things the lifestyle choices that we make. A combination of these two factors can determine whether an individual can become obese or not. Exploring the multiple causes of obesity can help people to take corrective measures to prevent this problem from becoming uncontrollable.

One of the leading causes of obesity has been put down to an energy imbalance. An energy imbalance can be simply described as the disparity between the energy that we derive through the food that we eat and the energy that we expend through the day by performing various tasks.

Our body uses energy for a variety of bodily functions including digesting, breathing and even eating. But the maximum amounts of energy are expended through physical tasks or activities. So people who lead sedentary lifestyles are using up minimum amount of bodily energy. The energy which is left unexpended is stored in the body as fat.

When the energy expended equals the energy consumed an individual’s body weight remains stable. If the energy consumed exceeds the energy expended, the person begins to put on weight. If on the other hand the energy expended far exceeds the energy consumed, the person tends to lose weight.

People who lead an inactive or sedentary lifestyle are at the greatest risk of suffering from obesity and its related problems. Individuals who like to plunk down in front of the computer or television set for the major part of the day are likely candidates of obesity. Besides leading a sedentary lifestyle, some of our personal choices regarding food and drink can also determine our chances of becoming obese.

People who eat a lot of processed and high fat food like French fries or burgers on a regular basis have the tendency to become obese. People who cut out unrefined flour, high fiber vegetables and fruits from their diet are actually making a big mistake. Individuals who indulge in comfort eating and those eat extra large potions of food have a very high energy intake. If this energy is not expended in the proper manner, it can cause a person to become obese.

Besides eating calorie dense food, drinking highly sweetened drinks can hasten a person’s chances of becoming obese. Most of the unhealthy lifestyle choices that a person makes is rooted in their childhood and is governed or influenced by family values with regard to food.

While our basic body makeup is the intrinsic factor which determines our chances of suffering from obesity, there are extrinsic or outside factors which can determine our chances of enduring the ill effects of obesity. Environmental factors which do not support or aid an individual to lead a healthy lifestyle tops the list.

People who do not have access to recreation facilities because of their economic status or due to safety hazards are more likely to suffer from extreme weight issues.? People who have hectic work schedules which leave them with little time to exercise of lead a healthy lifestyle are twice as likely to become obese.

People who live in areas that do not sell fresh fruits or vegetables resort to eating canned, high fat, preservative laden food. If these foods are consumed regularly over an extended period of time, the risk of obesity is very high.

Sometimes even food advertisements can influence our food choices. Certain unhealthy foods which are advertised in a very clever manner can wheedle us into eating similar foods which may prove to be detrimental for our health.

Genetics as well as the family values concerning food can determine a person’s chances of becoming obese. Some people due to their genetic makeup have a higher predisposition to store body fat than others.

If parents adopt a lackadaisical manner as concerns food and allow their children to gorge on unhealthy food stuffs then there are greater chances of them suffering from obesity.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome, hypothyroidism are some of the disease conditions which causes an individual particularly women to put on excessive amounts of weight.

Emotional eaters tend to eat more and make wrong choices as regards food. People who eat food when they get stressed, angry or sad tend to go in for high calorie, fatty foods which are stored in the body as adipose tissue. Accumulation of adipose tissue over a period of time can lead to obesity.

Many people are unaware of the fact that insomnia or other sleeping disorders which causes an individual to sleep less than five hours a night are at a risk of suffering from obesity. People who fail to get sleep tend to snack more at night. Lack of sleep can also increase the insulin and blood glucose levels which can increase the risk of obesity.

Certain type of medications like seizure medications, antidepressants and corticosteroids can increase the appetite levels and decrease the level at which calories burn.

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Bottle feeding Can Cause Obesity

Do you know why some babies suffer with excess weight? It is due to the prolonged use of bottle-feeding, says a study by scientists from Temple University, USA. Childhood obesity is considered as a new epidemic of the time by the World Health Organization and has become a public health problem.

When fed with a bottle, the baby gets used to consuming more calories than the body needs, causing excess weight as early as the first year of life. Due to the,? prolonged? use of bottle up to two years, parents are getting used to it and? the baby consume a large amount of calories daily.

According to the study a child who consumes three bottles of 240 milliliters of whole milk is consuming 12% more daily calories needed. Therefore, doctors suggest that the time for the babies to drop out the feeding bottles is when your baby is about a year old.

The “bottle effect” as it was called, may be one reason for the association between breastfeeding and lower risk of childhood obesity. In more recent research on the effect of breastfeeding on weight gain, the focus has been on the components of breast milk, such as leptin and adiponectin, which help regulate appetite and metabolism.

But new findings suggest that the form of small food also matters in that direction. The physicians and pediatricians can influence parents to decide what time your children must leave the bottle feed, helping to prevent early tooth decay, obesity and iron deficiency in the body.

Just five minutes of advice about the dangers that prolonged use of bottle-feeding can bring results in a drop of 60% in the number of babies who continue to use the bottle up to two years old.

Doctor’s always give advice to stop using a bottle on the first birthday of the baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that the bottle use can be continued until a maximum of 15 months, but many parents and doctors are not aware of this. Many continue to feed their children with bottles till three to four years.

According to the survey, if parents make their children stop using a bottle after talking to there doctor, the advice works. This shows that health professionals can influence the behavior of children before they develop bad habits that would follow throughout their lives.

About 86% of parents who continue to bottle feed their children after two years say they do not make the transition to the glass because the children prefer the bottle. “When the children complete two years, it becomes very difficult for parents to do this change. This needs to happen when the child is younger, and their behavior has changed more easily.

The word PACIFIER is used as synonymous (with controversy) in place of BOTTLE FEEDING. Many beliefs are involved in the use of this accessory, as it could strengthen the muscles of the mouth of the baby, soothe them and to “teach” the better to suck the breast. They became something cultural- the dolls come with teats and some just stop crying if the piece of plastic is embedded in there mouth.

This accessory is absolutely inadvisable. “For centuries babies have lived and lived well without pacifiers. Something that is not natural, can not do well with children,” says the doctor. A major problem is given to the mother, the sucking action required to get the pacifier is different from the movement to suck the breast.

This can cause a “confusion of beak” in which the baby sucking the breast ends up incorrectly, may cause cracks within and even at the risk of withdrawing less milk than they need. “Many mothers come to the clinics said they think their milk is weak and that the baby lives hungry when in fact it is sucking the milk inappropriately,” says the expert.

Moreover, the act of sucking a pacifier may make the child swallow more air, causing gas and cramps , or an infection due to germs in the pacifier. “There are even studies showing that plastic pacifiers could increase the chances of cancer,” added the doctor.

Another negative factor is the orthodontic problems that pacifiers can cause: the dental arch closes, the rise in the palate (pushed by the nozzle), or the teeth are open, dry mouth, due to the constant input of air, thus facilitating onset of decay and the air that enters the mouth contains more impurities as it is not filtered as that which enters the nose, which can cause laryngitis, rhinitis or sinusitis. The movements of the teeth can also cause problems with speech.

It is believed that the pacifier calms the baby. This is absolutely a myth, according to the pediatrician. “The baby stops crying because he is busy with sucking, but many things calmed down, such as candy, so it is not? that parents can offer babies chocolates and candies all the time,”

What is the output for the practice hours of uncontrollable crying or tantrums? There is no practical solution, babies require maximum attention and care not a standard like “crying? Give pacifiers that are better!” says the pediatrician. In complicated cases of colic, it is worth trying to change the position where the baby is lying down or doing the exercise to move his legs in a bicycle motion.

The bottle can bring the same loss, so soon after you stop breastfeeding your child (ideally at around two years) parents should give the glass, instead of bottles. Many parents give the pacifier when the baby is addicted to sucking their thumb.

As compared “Between the finger and pacifier, it is best to leave the child with their finger, not because it brings so many orthodontic complications and infections,” said the expert of SBP. If the child does not want to release the finger let them to take it, because they are not getting addictive to it and not to engage the suction mechanism.

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