If you belong to the school of thought that believes that there is no excuse for somebody being overweight and that a severely overweigh individual is simply someone who eats too much and does not get enough exercise, then think again. Although it is undoubtedly true that overeating together with a sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity, it is certainly not the only cause.



Although not well understood at this time, there is thought to be a genetic factor that pre-disposes some individuals to obesity. For instance, some forms of the genes responsible for controlling such things as metabolism and appetite are believed to contribute to obesity when found in combination with specific environmental conditions.

Additionally, there are various genetic disorders which can lead to obesity. Prader-Willi syndrome for example, named after Andrea Prader and Heinrich Willi and was described first in 1956, is a genetic condition in which, in addition to other things, people have a voracious appetite and amass excess fat, particularly around the central portion of the body.

Underlying illness can also result in a gain in weight and obesity. Possibly the most well know, although certainly not the only, illness that frequently leads to obesity is hypothyroidism, in which the thyroid gland secretes insufficient thyroid hormone. Although the condition itself lead to only mild weight gain, in combination with the right environmental conditions, this can very easily develop in a very substantial rise in weight.

Medication can also result in an increase in weight. The list of medications that can produce weight gain is very long but one particular class of drugs that is causing concern and attracted attention from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a class of atypical antipsychotics that can have a marked affect on the metabolism.

There are also various specific eating disorders that can cause obesity, like binge eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is a psychiatric disorder (and an element of bulimia nervosa) in which, as its name suggests, sufferers are unable to control their eating and frequently intersperse binge eating into what is otherwise a normal eating pattern.

Some diets might also result in obesity without the individual realizing that it is their diet that is the cause of the problem. In other words this is not a case of simply eating too much, but of eating the wrong type of food. In a few individuals for instance certain foods can result in an unusually high level of blood sugar for a short time immediately after eating.

Slimming itself can also result in obesity. The fact of the matter is that many diets fail and we are seeing an increasing number of individuals who spend a significant period of their lives moving from one diet to the next in an attempt to lose weight. What actually happens here is that they usually lose weight while on a diet and then put it back on again, usually with a little bit extra, every time they stop dieting. As they come on and off various different diets their weight will cycle up and down, but the trend is for their weight to go up over time, eventually leading to their becoming obese.

These are merely a few of the causes of obesity, in addition to simple overeating and a lack of exercise, and a number of these are either outside of the control of the individuals concerned or they are severely limited in their ability to control the situation.

So, the next time you see an obese individual you might be correct in assuming that they have caused the problem themselves, but you could equally be incorrect in jumping to this conclusion.