Knowing and understanding the basic causes of obesity will help you to lose weight as this will enables you the determine the focus of your weight loss plan.

There are several and often very complicated factors that are blamed as the causes of obesity. But the focus here are on a few basic causes of obesity. By attending to these you can significantly contribute to your weight loss effort.

The most common reasons for obesity are:

Our modern environment

Our modern world is focused an easy way of life and fast food outlets are easily available. You don’t even have to leave your house, just order and it will be delivered! This causes many people to eat too many foods high in fat, sugar, and salt. We eat what we see advertised on the television.

Eating habits and lifestyle

Unhealthy eating habits like eating lots of fast food combined with an inactive lifestyle is a sure way of gaining weight.

Emotional causes

Some people use food as an emotional outlet to relieve psychological stress. This included eating when stressed, depressed, emotional or bored. Being hungry has nothing to do with this.

Physical inactivity

The modern world contributes to physical inactivity, things like remote controls, escalators, drive through businesses and efficient public transport causes people to get less unorganized exercise.

Age

As we grow older we tend to do less physical activities which contributes to weight gains.

Genetics

Research shows a tendency for obesity and overweight in families which indicates that genes can increase the chances for a person to become overweight. Families often share eating habits and a lack of physical activity which also plays a role in gaining weight.

Illness

Medical conditions may cause weight gain or obesity, for example hypothyroidism and depression. Consult your doctor if you think your weight gains are related to an illness.

Medicine

Some medicines may cause weight gains. If you fear that medicine is causing you to gain weight you should speak to your pharmacist or doctor about possible side effects.

By being aware of the factors that cause overweight you can work on changing your negative eating and physical activity habits. Changing these negative habits will contribute to improving your weight and health.

You may not be able to control all these factors that can lead to obesity and overweight but you can easily do something about negative eating habits and getting more exercise By changing some negative habits and by going on a proven diet suitable to your circumstances you can improve your weight and and also enjoy better health. View our list of diets and weight loss programs to select a suitable diet.

Maybe you realize that you need to lose weight but lack the motivation needed to take action. You should earnestly consider the dangers you subject yourself to by staying overweight. If you are obese or overweight you should take this matter very seriously. Losing weight can be critical due to various reasons and you should be aware of this.

It is crucial that you take notice of the following reasons for losing weight:

Your Health – Obesity is one of the leading causes of various serious medical conditions like heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, fertility problems, joint trouble, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, gallstones and sleep disorders. These conditions can have a seriously effect on your quality of life and can even cause premature death.

Self Esteem – Obesity often have a negative influence on a your self confidence and self esteem. A low self esteem impact on on the way you function in society and people with low self esteem often does not realize their full potential.

Psychological disorders – People who suffer from obesity are prone to disorders like depression, anxiety and emotional distress. This raises the danger of suicide.

Social acceptability – Unfortunately it is a fact that obesity is not socially acceptable. Physical attraction is usually associated with a fit and lean body.

Age – The age at which a person becomes overweight plays an important role in the development of health problems later on in a person’s life. The longer a person is overweight the bigger is the risk for developing obesity related medical conditions. This is also the reason why there are a bigger health risk in young children and teenagers that are overweight.

If you look at these factors it is clear that you own it to yourself to start losing weight. By not losing weight you are risking your life! You can start by selecting a diet that is suitable to your lifestyle and circumstances. Getting a medical opinion is also advisable.

Statistics and estimates as reported by the The International Obesity Task Force, the US Census, WHO World Health Report and other organizations indicates the enormity of the world wide obesity problem:

• Over 300 million people worldwide are obese and 750 million more are overweight.
• More than 22 million of the world’s children under 5 are overweight or obese.
• In some parts of Africa, fatness and obesity afflicts more children than malnutrition does – sometimes four times as many, a study showed that 0.7 percent of children are showing features of malnutrition, but over 3 percent are overweight or obese.
• In the United States about 13 percent of children are overweight or obese.
• In some countries, more than 30 percent of the children are obese.
• In the USA the percentage of overweight children between the ages of 6-and 11 has nearly doubled since the the 1980’s.
• Six million American adults have a BMI 40+ and are classed as morbidly obese (BMI of 40+), almost twice as high as in 1980, while another 9.6 million have a BMI of 35-40.
• About 60% of American adults are overweight, that is 39.8 million people.
• In 2008 Americans spent more than $40 billion on diets and weight loss products and diet and weight loss supplements reached sales of $16.1 billions. About 20 000 different products are produced by more than 1 000 manufacturers. These products are used by a estimated by 100 million Americans.
• The economic cost of obesity is immense, in the USA the direct medical costs of obesity are calculated at more than $93 billion a year.
• According to the US National Institutes of Health, obesity and overweight are the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States and an estimated 300,000 deaths per year are caused by obesity.

If you need to lose weight there is no point in postponing or looking for excuses, you need to take positive action and to start doing something about the situation! Why not start by looking at our quick weight loss advice or at selected weight loss programs and diets.