What Causes Obesity

Your genetic background plays a role in your obesity and influences your body type, shape and basal metabolism rate. In the absence of other factors this risk is about 8-18%.

Men tend to develop obesity after age 30, and women are at risk as children and during adulthood. If your parents are obese you are likely to be at risk for obesity all your life. Fat storage is strongly influenced by your genetic make-up and what allows this natural tendency to be activated are: inactivity, eating super sized portions of high calories, high fat foods, cultural mores, upbringing and environmental factors.

If you are in a high risk group, be selective in your food choices, limit your calorie intake, cook with vegetable oil, eat high protein, hihg fiber unsaturated fat and eat only when you are hungry. Never eat and feel guilty afterwards. Guilt is a very destructive emotion. If you have a tendency to praise yourself with food or if you eat to calm your nerves, you must get help.

You have to understand that if you are at risk for obesity you have a lifelong struggle ahead of you. Genes don't control your life destiny, but food and inactivity do. Obesity greatly increases the odds of becoming diabetic, having a heart attack, getting colon cancer, breast cancer or developing other serious diseases.