Obesity Has Various Causes and Effects on the Body - Report Example

Title Author Institution Obesity Obesity is a condition of the body where the body accumulates too much fat that ends up affecting health and causing diseases and lower life expectancy. An obese person is that whose body-mass index is more than 30kg/m2, (World Health Organization 2000). Obesity has various causes and effects on the body. It affects people of all ages and races. In many societies obesity has been associated with eating too much. Many people believe that the sole reason why other people become obese is their wrong eating habits. This belief may hold some truth. However, there are many other reasons that cause obesity. Wrong eating habits may just be one of them. This paper seeks to prove that obesity does not only result from overeating or bad eating habits but it has many other causes as well. The paper will seek to erase the belief that only too much eating can cause obesity in people. By doing this, it will discuss several other factors that have been studied and found to be related to obese conditions. Diet Many health experts and lay people as well believe that bad eating habits are to blame for every obese condition. In some societies, obesity has majorly resulted from excess eating and other unhealthy eating habits. The per capita supply of energy in the diet differs from country or region to another. Research has shown that the total amount of calories consumed is related to obesity in some way. A higher amount of calories increases obesity while a lesser amount that the body can burn does not (Eckel 2003). Endocrine disruptors Researchers from the University of Barcelona under the leadership of Dr. Juan Carlos Laguna released results of their study through the Hepatology which gives an idea to the molecular process through which fructose can change the metabolism of lipid energy and cause accumulation of fat in the liver and metabolic syndrome (Stern & Kazaks 2009). The metabolism of fructose normally happens in the liver, which happens to be the target of the changes that result from the consumption of fructose. In the study, rats were given beverages that had fructose in them after which they presented a pathology that resembles metabolic syndrome. This results in the accumulation of lipids and fatty liver and in the long run it results in high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity (Martinez 2000). Lack of a balanced diet and physical exercise are major factors that lead to high levels of obesity in the society today. Epidemiological studies have shown that the effect of consumption of beverages sweetened with fructose is high in women. There researchers have agreed over the negative effects of beverages sweetened with fructose, debate is still ongoing over fructose effects. The effect of fructose on the human brain may be the cause of obesity. Yale University researchers examined how glucose and fructose affect the brain using MRI scans (World Health Organization 2000). They discovered that high intake of fructose could be the cause of the existing epidemic of obesity. Research has proved that some regions in the brain that are responsible for appetite regulation are more active when there is glucose consumption. The same regions are inactive whenever fructose is consumed. Whenever these regions are activated, they produce hormones that generate feelings of fullness. From the explanation above, it is clear that the use of certain nutrition elements could be a cause for obesity. Overeating could cause obesity in some people. However, the argument in this paper is that not all obesity is caused by overeating. The misconception that only unhealthy eating habits cause obesity has been countered by Blass (2008). The author claims that other factors such as sedentary lifestyle, family lifestyle, emotions, genes, environmental factors, sex, age pregnancy, social determinants, diseases, sedentary lifestyles, infectious agents, reduced smoking rates and medications. Sedentary lifestyle A sedentary lifestyle has a major role to play in causing obesity. Studies show that at least 30% of the world’s population does not get sufficient exercise. People are continually becoming less active because of mechanization in transportation and technology that saves on labour (Stern & Kazaks 2009). Children are registering lower levels of physical activity. Research by the World Health Organization reveals that all over the world people are moving towards less active recreation. In adults and children there exists a relationship between the risk of obesity and the time taken on television viewing. A certain review found that out of 73 studies, 63 of them had results showing that childhood obesity was associated with increased exposure to the media. High rates of obesity were found in those children that spend many hours on television (Wolin & Petrelli 2002). It could be a fact that a sedentary lifestyle causes obesity when combined with bad eating habits. However, these bad eating habits may only come in to reinforce the effects of the sedentary lifestyle. Apart from a sedentary lifestyle, family lifestyle also contributes to obesity. Obesity runs through families and it may result from genes, shared diet and shared lifestyle behavior. For example, if one parent or both are obese, then there are high chances of any of the children being obese. This means that is a family has obesity in its bloodline, then, proper eating habits may not change the situation (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 2012). Environmental factors such as lifestyle also cause obesity. The environment influences the behavior of an individual. For example, lack of physical activity could be something that has been acquired from the behavior of other people or restrictive surroundings. Sex is also a contributory factor to obesity. Averagely, women have lesser muscles than men. Muscles burn more calories than other kinds of tissue. Therefore, the calories used by men are more compared to those used by women. This means that women have a higher likelihood of gaining weight than men even on the same calorie amount. Age can cause obesity in some people. As people grow older, they lose their muscles and accumulate fat. Rate of metabolism also goes down and these factors lower the requirements in terms of calories. Pregnancy has also been found to cause obesity. Women gain weight after every pregnancy (Burniat 2002). This weight could accumulate after a number of pregnancies. Some medical conditions and medicines could have the effect of promoting or causing obesity. However, this is a rare occurrence as compared to poor eating habits and inactivity. Obesity may be caused by depression, Cushing syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome and medications such as steroids, birth control pills and anti-depressants. Distribution of body fat also has a role to play in the determination of whether a person is to be obese or not. There are more than two types of body fat. Studies done in Scandinavia have revealed that excess fat around the waist has a bigger risk of obesity than excess fat stored on the thighs and hips (Martinez 2000). Other illnesses According the World Health Organization (2000) certain illnesses of a mental and physical nature as well as the medicines used to control them can contribute to a higher risk of having obesity. Medical problems that heighten the risk of obesity are among others; the syndromes mentioned above and the acquired conditions such as Cushing’s syndrome, hypothyroidism and the growth hormone deficiency. Psychiatric disorders can cause overweight conditions in people as well. This is evidence that one need not eat too much to be obese. Medical conditions and certain medicines could cause obesity even if the person does not have bad eating habits. Social Determinants It is agreeable that genetic influence and eating habits can help to understand obesity but they do not account for the escalation of obesity cases in certain places. Such cases of obesity most likely result from social factors. There is a variation between BMI and social class. A 1989 review showed that women enjoying high social class in developed countries did not have many cases of obesity (Nurniat 2002). In developing countries people of high social class had high obesity rates. In developed countries, rates of obesity in adults and teenagers have a correlation with inequality in incomes. In some undeveloped nations cultural values that favor large body sizes, the economic ability to afford food and high expenditure of energy are the causes of obesity cases. Some people have certain attitudes towards the mass of the body and this could also contribute to obesity. High risks of obesity can also result from low social status and stress. Smoking also affects body weight (Hafen 1975). Upon quitting smoking, women gain 5.0 kg while men gain 4.4 kg on average. In the US, the amount of children a man or woman gets plays a role in whether the person will have obesity or not. The risk of the mother increases by 7 percent for one child while the risk of the father increases by 4 percent. In developing countries, it has been found that urbanization also contributes to high obesity rates. China has overall rates of obesity of less than 5 percent although some urban areas have their rates of obesity rising above 20 percent. In addition, malnutrition during early years of life also contributes to increasing obesity rates. Endocrine changes occurring during times of malnutrition can lead to fat storage when food is made available. People whose obesity results from social factors may not have had bad eating habits ton have obesity (Stern & Kazaks 2009). Infectious agents Studies are ongoing on how infectious agents affect metabolism. Researchers have found that gut flora differs between people who are lean and those that are obese. Gut flora affects people’s metabolic potential (Rolland-Cachera, Deheeger, Maillot and Bellisle 2006). The change in metabolic potential causes people to increase their eating capacity. This trend was formerly prevalent in developed countries but the trend is now all over the world. Obesity is on the rise. In 1980, the USA had 14 percent of its adult population suffering from obesity. By 2000 this figure rose to 31 percent. Apart from high intake of sugars and carbohydrates, other factors may have led to the rise in intake of calories and carbohydrates. For example, in 1984 the government made advertising on fast foods and sweets free for children. Previous laws had placed limits on this Eckel 2008). Leading a sedentary lifestyle Lack of physical activity can lead to obesity. With the coming of televisions, washings machines, computers and other equipment that increase the convenience of working, many more people are leading inactive lifestyles compared to previous generations. People need not just eat in a bad way to become obese. Those who use a lot of their time sitting down or doing no vigorous activity can easily become obese. Some years ago, people were forced to walk to the shop, bank or grocery shop (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 2012). With the opening of huge supermarkets in and out of town, people are opting to drive to these supermarkets to get what they need. In the United States, people depend so much on cars that they opt to drive even if what they need is less than a mile a way. The more sedentary one becomes, the lesser calories he burns. Physical activity can reduce obesity by determining the mode of action of hormones and the hormones in turn affect the way the body uses food. Many studies have revealed that physical activity positively affects on the levels of insulin because it maintains them in a stable state. Unstable levels of insulin have something to do with weight gain. Children having TV sets in their bedrooms have a higher likelihood of being obese than those who have no TVs (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 2012). Not sleeping enough. People who have inadequate sleep have higher risks of becoming obese. A research done at Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick revealed that the rate of obesity doubles for such people. Both children and adults are at risk of becoming obese if they do not get enough sleep. A team led by Professor Francesco Cappucio did a review of evidence on 15,000 adults and more than 28,000 children (Burniat 2002). From the review, they revealed that the lack of sleep increased the risk of obesity in adults and children. According to Professor Cappuccio, the problem of obesity runs parallel to a silent epidemic of lesser sleep durations. Short durations have been associated with a higher risk of obesity in adults and children. Cappucio notes that depriving one of sleep could be a cause of obesity especially when one gets a bigger appetite due to change in hormones. People who get insufficient sleep produce Ghrelin hormone which is known to be an appetite stimulant (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 2012). Reduced smoking rates All people do not lose weight when they stop smoking. The National Institute of health (NIH) reveals that “Not everyone gains weight when they stop smoking” Those who gain weight add between 6 and 8 pounds to their weight. About 10 percent of people who cease to smoke gain a significant amount of weight which could be 30 pounds and above. Research shows that stopping to smoke alone without any hint of poor eating habits can make a person to become obese (Hafen 1975). Medications that cause weight gain There are some medications that trigger weight gain in the body. A good example is the birth control pills which to some women cause weight gain. An article in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy supports this view. The author states that “clinically significant weight gain is associated with some commonly prescribed medicines” (Martinez 2000, p. 6). There exists a wide variation between individuals on the response to weight gain and the amount of weight gained within drug classes. Where possible, people should select alternative therapy especially if the individual is predisposed to obesity and weight gain (World Health Organization 2000). Obesity gene According to research by a team of scientists, a faulty gene known as FTO causes overeating in one out of every 6 people. According to a research by Racher Batterham the leader of the team, people with the FTO gene variant have a habit of eating a lot of food, they like high energy foods, eat fatty foods and therefore suffer from obesity. They also take long to reach the point of satiety (Wolin & Petrelli 2009). Obesity results from the interplay between environmental factors and genetic factors. Polymorphisms occur in various genes that have the power to control appetite and metabolism and they can cause obesity in a person whenever there is sufficient food energy. By 2006, over 41 of such sites found on the genome of a human being have been associated with obesity development whenever the environment is favorable. People having double copies of the FTO gene which is associated with fat, mass and obesity, normally weigh between 3 and 4 kg or more and are likely to have a higher risk of obesity compared to people that do not have the risk allele. There is a variation of between 6 percent and 85 percent in the percentage of obesity that is associated with genetics. Obesity can be found in many syndromes including Prader-Willi syndrome, MOMO syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Cohen syndrome. Studies done on patterns of inheritance and not particular genes have revealed that 80 percent of the children of parents with obesity also suffered from the condition. This was in contrast to the 10 percent and less, found in children of parents without obesity (Blass 2008). Conclusion In conclusion, this paper has argued that case that not all cases of obesity result from over-eating and other bad eating habits. Obesity could result from bad eating habits but not all the time. The misconception that overeating is the only cause of obesity has spread all over. This paper has successfully countered this belief. It has also shown that obesity may result from many other factors that work in isolation or in combination with too much eating. These factors include sedentary lifestyle, family lifestyle, emotions, genes, environmental factors, sex, age pregnancy, social determinants, diseases, sedentary lifestyles, infectious agents, reduced smoking rates and medications. All these factors have the potential of causing obesity even when the person maintains healthy eating habits. References Blass E.M. (2008). Obesity: Causes, Mechanisms, Prevention and Treatment. Sinauer Associates. Burniat W. (2002). Child and Adolescent Obesity: Causes and Consequences, Prevention. Cambridge University Press. Eckel R.H. (2003). Obesity: Mechanisms and Clinical Management. Wolters Kluwer Health. Hafen Q.B (1975). Overweight and Obesity: Causes, Fallacies, Treatment. Brigham Young University Press. Martinez J.A. (2000). Body-weight Regulation: causes of obesity. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (2000), 59, 337-355. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (2012). What Causes Overweight and Obesity? Viewed 22 August 2013 http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/causes.html Rolland-Cachera, M.F., Deheeger M., Maillot, M and Bellisle F. (2006). Early adiposity rebound: causes and consequences for obesity in children and adults. International Journal of Obesity (2006) 30, S11–S17. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803514. Stern J.S, & Kazaks A. (2009). Obesity: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. Wolin Y.K. & Petrelli J.M (2009). Obesity. ABC-CLIO. World Health Organization (2000). Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. World Health Organization. Read More