The reasons for obesity are multiple
and complex. Despite conventional wisdom, it is not simply a result
of overeating. Research has shown that in many cases a significant,
underlying cause of morbid obesity is genetic. Studies have
demonstrated that once the problem is established, efforts such as
dieting and exercise programs have a limited ability to provide
effective long-term relief.
Science continues to search for answers. But until the disease is
better understood, the control of excess weight is something
patients must work at for their entire lives. That is why it is very
important to understand that all current medical interventions,
including weight loss surgery, should not be considered medical
cures. Rather they are attempts to reduce the effects of excessive
weight and alleviate the serious physical, emotional and social
consequences of the disease.
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Contributing Factors
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Genetic Factors
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The Pima Paradox
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Environmental Factors
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Metabolism
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Eating Disorders and Medical Conditions
Contributing Factors
The underlying causes of severe obesity are not known. There are
many factors that contribute to the development of obesity including
genetic, hereditary, environmental, metabolic and eating disorders.
There are also certain medical conditions that may result in obesity
such as intake
of steroids and hypothyroidism.
Genetic Factors
Numerous scientific studies have established that your genes play an
important role in your tendency to gain excess weight.
The body weight of adopted children shows no correlation with the
body weight of their adoptive parents, who feed them and teach them
how to eat. Their weight does have an 80-percent correlation with
their genetic parents, whom they have never met.
Identical twins, with the same genes, show a much higher similarity
of body weights than do fraternal twins, who have different genes.
Certain groups of people, such as the Pima Indian tribe in Arizona,
have a very high incidence of severe obesity. They also have
significantly higher rates of diabetes and heart disease than other
ethnic groups.
We probably have a number of genes directly related to weight. Just
as some genes determine eye color or height, others affect our
appetite, our ability to feel full or satisfied, our metabolism, our
fat-storing ability and even our natural activity levels.
The Pima Paradox
The Pima Indians are known in scientific circles as one of the
heaviest groups of people in the world. In fact, National Institutes
of Health researchers have been studying them for more than 35
years. Some adults weigh more than 500 pounds, and many obese
teenagers are suffering from diabetes, the disease most frequently
associated with obesity.
But here's a really interesting fact - a group of Pima Indians
living in Sierra Madre, Mexico, does not have a problem with obesity
and its related diseases. Why not?
The leading theory states that after many generations of living in
the desert, often confronting famine, the most successful Pima were
those with genes that helped them store as much fat as possible
during times when food was available. Now those fat-storing genes
work against them.
Though both populations consume a similar number of calories each
day, the Mexican Pima still live much like their ancestors did. They
put in 23 hours of physical labor each week and eat a traditional
diet that's very low in fat. The Arizona Pima live like most other
modern Americans, eating a diet consisting of around 40 percent fat
and engaging in physical activity for only two hours a week.
The Pima apparently have a genetic predisposition to gain weight.
And the environment in which they live - the environment in which
most of us live - makes it nearly impossible for the Arizona Pima to
maintain a normal, healthy body weight.
Environmental Factors
Environmental and genetic factors are obviously closely intertwined.
If you have a genetic predisposition toward obesity, then the modern
American lifestyle and environment may make controlling weight more
difficult.
Fast food, long days sitting at a desk, and suburban neighborhoods
that require cars all magnify hereditary factors such as metabolism
and efficient fat storage.
For those suffering from morbid obesity, anything less than a total
change in environment usually results in failure to reach and
maintain a healthy body weight.
Metabolism
We used to think of weight gain or loss as only a function of
calories ingested and then burned. Take in more calories than you
burn, gain weight; burn more calories than you ingest, lose weight.
But now we know the equation isn't that simple.
Obesity researchers now talk about a theory called the "set point,"
a sort of thermostat in the brain that makes people resistant to
either weight gain or loss. If you try to override the set point by
drastically cutting your calorie intake, your brain responds by
lowering metabolism and slowing activity. You then gain back any
weight you lost.
Eating Disorders and Medical Conditions
Weight loss surgery is not a cure for eating disorders. And there
are medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism, that can also cause
weight gain. That's why it's important that you work with your
doctor to make sure you do not have a condition that should be
treated with medication and counseling.
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IN THIS SECTION:
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ABOUT OBESITY
:: WHAT IS MORBID OBESITY?
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WHAT CAUSES MORBID OBESITY?
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HEALTH RISKS/CONDITIONS
:: TREATMENT OPTIONS
:: BODY WEIGHT CHART
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