Weighty Problems

THE primary reason that people in our society are unhappy with their weight is appearance. Fortunately, people also are aware of the health hazards that are related to obesity. An excess of body fat occurs when people accumulate more food energy than they spend on a consistent basis. Obesity itself has many interrelated causes.

Fat Cell Development:

Much of the excess energy that is consumed but no expended is stored in fat cells is what reflect the amount of fat on an individual's body. During growth, fat cells increase in number.

When energy intake exceeds expenditure, fat cells can also increase is size. These cells can also divide upon reaching their maximum size. So when an individual's fat cells increase in size and or number, obesity occurs. These same fat cells will shrink in size but not in number with weight loss. This is why a person who has lost weight can regain it rapidly.

Genetics:

An important component in determining a person's body weight and composition is genetics.If both parents are obese, chances are greater that their children will also genetics that may determine the tendency to gain more weight than others.

The way energy is spent it also partly due to genetics. Similarities within families are much easier to compare than when it's based on sex, age, and body composition alone.

Metabolism:

Enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is what promotes fat storage in both fat and muscle cells. People with high LPL activity store fat well therefore, obese people have high LPL activity.

This also means that even a small energy intake will have more profound impact on obese people rather than on lean people. Women produce abundant amounts of LPL in their breast, hips and things, men produce LPL in the abdomen. This explain why men readily gain and store obese fat in the middle, while women generally gain in the lower areas.

Overeating:

Although it is not necessarily accurate, the obvious explanation for obesity is overeating of overweight people. Miscalculation and reporting often leads to eating more than the individual believes.

This in turn also may include that the individual is not quite as active as they believe themselves to be either. Obese people who keep track of their food intake in attempts to lose weight but fail to do so often end up in 'denial'; denial being that they begin to blame genetic and metabolic factors rather than recognizing and taking full responsibility for their behavior.

Inactivity:

Some individuals may be obese not because they overeat but because they are inactive or spend too little energy. People must be physically active if they are to eat enough food to deliver all of the required nutrients without and unhealthy weight gain.

Technology has promoted a decrease in the amount oof physical activity today. Underactivity is probably one of the most important contributing factors in obesity.

Inactivity alone fails to explain away the causes of obesity. Fat cell development, genetics, metabolism and overeating are important factors as well.

Some causes are under people's control and some are out of control. No two people are alike. A healthy and awareness are the best things an individual can adopt to keep their own lives in control.

source: http://www.myhealth.gov.my