Factors Causing Obesity, You Must Know

Obesity is overweight due to excessive fat accumulation. A recent large-scale study by researchers in the UK and Denmark found a direct link between a high body mass index (BMI) and an increased risk of heart disease.

The body mass index (BMI) is a measure of height and weight. People with a BMI of 18.5-24.9 are considered normal weight, while those with a BMI of 30 or more are referred to as obesity. Those who are both considered overweight.

In his research, the researchers analyzed data from more than 75,000 people in Copenhagen. They found that people with high BMI were 26 percent more likely to develop heart disease. Further analysis with genetic data and others showed that increasing BMI by 4 points could increase the risk of heart disease by up to 52 percent.

"Through epidemiological studies in combination with genetic analysis, we were able to show that nearly 76,000 people have high-BMI risk of heart damage," said Borge Nordestgaard, chief physician at the University Hospital Copenhagen.

Factors that lead to overweight include:

Genetically

Obesity can be derived from the previous generation in the next generation in a family. That's why we often find fat parents who also have big kids. In this case, genetic factors seem to have made it difficult to determine the number of fat cells in the body. This is possible because, in obese mothers, the fat cell elements that are large and normal size are automatically passed to the baby during the uterus. So do not be surprised if babies are born and even have relatively large body fat.

Damage to a part of the brain

In one part of the brain, the hypothalamus, there is a control system that regulates eating behavior.

- An accumulation of nuclei in the brain that are directly related to other parts of the brain and the glands under the brain. The hypothalamus contains more blood vessels from other parts of the brain, making them more easily affected by the chemical elements of the blood. Two parts of the hypothalamus that affect food intake, namely the lateral hypothalamus (LH), which lowers the appetite (start or feeding center); ventromedial hypothalamus (HVM), which is responsible for the obstruction of the appetite (stop or saturation center). The results of the study showed that if the HL is damaged / destroyed, the person refuses to eat or drink and dies unless he is forced to be drunk (with an IV). When damage occurs in the HVM, someone becomes stingy and overweight.

Excessive eating patterns

People who are overweight are more likely to respond to external signs of hunger than people with normal weight. For example, the taste and smell of food or when it's time to eat. Fat people tend to eat when they feel like not eating when they are hungry. This overeating causes them to become obese if the individual has no self-control and no strong motivation to reduce weight.

Exercise / sports less

The energy consumption of the body is very sensitive to the control of body weight. Energy consumption depends on two factors:

1) Activity and sports in general;

2) Basic metabolism or energy level required to maintain minimal body function Of the two factors, basal metabolism accounts for two-thirds of normal people's energy expenditure. Although physical activity accounts for only one third of the energy consumption of a normal weight person, physical activity plays a very important role in overweight people. When using burnt calories more and more
Exercise, the more calories you lose. Calories indirectly affect the basal metabolic system. People who work all day experience a decline in the basal metabolism of their body. Lack of physical activity causes a great cycle, obesity makes sports activities very difficult and less fun, and the lack of indirect physical activity influences the decline in the person's basic metabolism. Therefore, physical activity is very important in weight loss, not only because it can burn calories, but also because it can regulate the function of normal metabolism.

Emotional influence

A popular picture is that obesity comes from unresolved emotional issues. Fat people thirst for love because children's food is considered a symbol of maternal affection, or overeating is a substitute for other gratification substitutes that are not reached in their lives. Although such a statement may be appropriate in some cases, some people who are overweight are no longer mentally disturbed than people of normal weight. Although many opinions say that obese people are usually unhappy, they are actually unhappy / inner stress is more caused by obesity. This is because in a society, thin bodies are often equated with beauty. People who are overweight tend to be ashamed of their looks and try to control themselves, especially in terms of eating habits. Fat people often say that they eat more when they are tense or anxious, and experiments prove the truth. Fat people eat more in a very gripping situation, people of normal weight in less tense situations (McKenna, 1999). In a study conducted by White (1977) in a group of overweight individuals and a group of light weight people, chips (snacks) were served after witnessing four types of films involving different emotions, namely tense, joyful films brought excited the sexual excitement and a boring reading. Overweight people seemed to have spent more chips after a tense movie than after a boring movie. People with less loss of appetite are still the same after tense and boring films.

Environment

Environmental influences also affect a person to become obese. When someone grows up in an environment where fat is believed to be a symbol of wealth and beauty, the person tends to become obese. As long as this view is not influenced by external factors, obese people will not have psychological issues related to the environment.

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