What Causes Obesity? -- An Overview
Obesity is a term that refers to an excessive amount of body fat.
Although there are more accurate (and costly) ways to measure the amount of body fat, healthcare providers can estimate it by calculating the
body mass index (
BMI).
The cause of obesity is, quite simply, when a person consumes more calories from food than he or she is able to burn. You may be asking yourself, "I thought there were several causes of obesity, such as genetics, medicines, or diseases." It is important to understand that these are not causes of obesity. Instead, they are known as influences or risk factors for obesity. These risk factors increase a person's chances for obesity, but they do not "guarantee" obesity.
Some of these obesity risk factors include:
- Genetics
- Environmental factors
- Social factors
- Illnesses
- Medications.
Before we talk about these risk factors, it may help to understand a little bit about calories and metabolism.
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