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Just a Choice
By Adda Bjarnadottir, MS |
November, 2015 |
22,677
views
Many people blame obesity on poor dietary choices and inactivity, but its not always
that simple.
Other factors can have powerful effects on body weight and obesity, some of which are
outside of the persons control.
These include genetics, environmental factors, certain medical conditions and more.
This article lists 9 compelling reasons why obesity is not just a choice.
Although the reason is unknown, children born via C-section seem more prone to
obesity later in life (9, 10).
This is also true for formula-fed infants, who tend to be heavier than breast-fed infants
(11, 12, 13).
This may be because the two groups develop differentgut bacteria, which can affect fat
storage (14).
It is important to note that these factors are generally notmade by choice of either the
mother or baby, yet they seem to be linked to the childs obesity risk.
Additionally, forming healthy dietary and exercise habits during childhood may be the
most valuable prevention against obesity and lifestyle-related diseases.
If young children develop a taste for healthy foods instead of processed junk foods, it
helps them maintain normal weight throughout their life.
Bottom Line: Certain childhood factors may affect the risk of obesity later on. These
include way of birth, breastfeeding and childhood dietary and exercise habits.
Hunger and uncontrollable eating are not just caused by greediness or lack of willpower.
Hunger is controlled by very powerful hormones and brain chemicals, involving areas of
the brain that are responsible for cravings and rewards (18, 19).
Many obese people have impaired function of these hormones, which alters their eating
behavior and causes a strong physiological drive to eat more.
The brain has a reward center, which lights up and starts secreting dopamine and other
feel-good chemicals when we eat.
This is the reason why most of us enjoy eating. This system also makes sure that we eat
enough food to get all the energy and nutrients we need.
Junk food releases much more of these feel-good chemicals than unprocessed food.
This yields a much more powerful reward in the brain (20, 21, 22).
Your brain may then seek more reward by causing powerful cravings for these junk
foods. This can lead to a vicious cycle that resembles addiction (23, 24, 25).