Obesity is a complex disorder involving an excessive amount of body fat. It increases the risk of health problems, for example, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Understanding the causes of obesity and how it affects us is important to everyone.

Here are some facts which cause obesity:

1) Genetic. It is more common for children to become obese when one or both of the parents are also obese. Genetics also have effects on hormones which regulate fat.

2) Overeating. People eat even when not physically hungry . Overeating is one of the main ways to gain weight, especially when we choose the foods which are high in fat or sugar. Such as, fried food, fast food or desserts.

3) Slow metabolism. Muscle (metabolism) burns more calories than other tissues. Compared with men, women have less muscle. Then women gain weight easier than men, but losing weight is more difficult for women. As we are older, we are losing our muscle and our metabolism slows. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce calories intake as we age.

4) Physical inactivity. Sedentary people  become obese more than people who are active. According to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), physical inactivity is strongly correlated with weight gain in both sexes.

Among Minnesota’s adults age 18 and over, 62.3% of adults were overweight, with a Body Mass Index of 25 or greater; 24.8% of adults were obese, with a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater.

Understanding the effects of obesity on our bodies is helpful to reduce or avoid obesity. Obviously,there are no quick remedies for these problems, and it may need the combination of help from others and medications as well as some professional help for the people who are severely obese. Based on CDC (Centers for Disease Control), there are strategies to address the five target areas for preventing and reducing obesity.

1) Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.

2) Increase physical activity.

3) Increase breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity.

4) Decrease consumption of sugar drinks.

5) Decrease consumption of high-energy-dense foods, which are high in calories.

It is important to pay attention to people who are obese, because there are many health risks associated with obesity including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some cancer and arthritis. It is important to control the weight gain and exercise to keep healthy.