Obesity - It's about more than just food

Obesity has many contributing factors

It's not surprising that most people think obesity and weight loss are all about food and exercise. After all, newspapers and TV programming are filled with doctors preaching about diet and exercise (or lack thereof) as the main causes for our country's obesity epidemic.

And, of course, they're right: Americans aren't eating well enough. And they're not exercising often enough. But those are just the two main, most obvious problems. In reality, obesity is about much, much more than that.

Unfortunately, since diet and exercise get so much attention (as well they should), the other factors often get overlooked. And the result is that we're only tackling part of the obesity problem, instead of the whole thing. And maybe that's why the problem's still so huge.

To get a better grip on all the factors involved in obesity, a group of doctors recently got together and compiled a list of 10 more possible causes for obesity. Their report was recently published in the International Journal of Obesity.

Here are the 10 possibilities they came up with:

Too little sleep: Recent research has shown that a lack of sleep can stimulate weight gain. And even more research has shown that Americans don't get enough sleep.
Pollution. Pollutants have a huge effect on our hormones, including the hormones that affect our body weight.
Central heat and air conditioning. You burn calories when your home or office is too hot or too cold for to be comfortable. But these days, people live and work in temperature-controlled homes and offices, meaning their bodies don't have to work too hard to find comfort.
Decreased smoking. As much as I hate to say it, smoking does boost your metabolism. But it does it by elevating your heart rate, sometimes to dangerous levels. Fortunately, Americans smoke much less than they used to -- a factor in rising obesity that I wouldn't change one bit.
Medicine. I don't know how many pills out there come with weight gain as a side effect (birth control, antidepressants, blood pressure medication, thyroid medications, and sleeping pills, to name a few). And let's face it: It seems like most people out there are taking some sort of prescription.
Population age, and ethnicity. Middle-aged and Hispanic people tend to be more overweight or obese than younger or Caucasian folks. And the American population is gradually getting older and more Hispanic.
Older moms. Research is now indicating that the older a woman is when she gives birth, the higher her child's risk of obesity might be. And surveys have shown that American women are now giving birth at older and older ages.
Ancestors' environment. Some influences on your weight could date back two generations. The researchers think it's possible that environmental changes that caused your grandparents to be obese may befall their grandchildren as well.
Obesity linked to fertility. The researchers pointed out evidence that obese people might be more fertile than thinner ones. And, if obesity does turn out to be genetic, then it makes sense that the number of obese people around the country would increase.
Marriages between obese people. Obese women tend to marry obese men. So, once again, if obesity is genetic, it only follows that there will be more obese children.

Of course, this list doesn't come close to showing all of the possibilities contributing to our nation's expanding waistline. Other possibilities that have been thrown out there in recent years include depression, a lower consumption of dairy products, and hormones used in agriculture.