December 30th, 2010 
Jeff Barnes 
The Cause and Effect of Obesity
The best answer to the cause and effect of obesity is simple, but nothing you want to hear! The definition of obesity is rather straightforward too. The definition of obesity, as defined by the National Health Institute (NHI) is:
"Obesity has been more precisely defined by the National Institutes of Health (the NIH) as a BMI of 30 and above. (A BMI of 30 is about 30 pounds overweight.)"
You can learn more about the Body Mass Index (BMI) here.
The cause and effect of obesity in children and other facts are listed here. I suggest you go read about the childhood obesity statistics as well as the effects of childhood obesity to get a broader understanding of what this ‘epidemic’ is really about.
What is the Real Cause and Effect of Obesity?
Are you ready for it? Are you sure? The real cause of obesity has nothing to do with the FDA, the number of calories in a Twinkie, or the number of sit-ups you can’t do. Instead it has something to do with all of the above. Actually, it has everything to do with all of those!
Huh? I thought you said it was simple!
Well, it is really. You see, there is only one thing you need to understand, and you probably already know the answer, you just won’t admit it to yourself. Here is the simple equation:
Category 1. Calories in less than Calories out, you eventually get a flat belly and toned butt!
Category 2. Calories in the same as Calories out, you keep your love handles, but don’t get anymore
Category 3. Calories in greater than Calories out, You get love handles
How do you quantify this? Well, if you sit on your ass all day and eat potato chips, guess what? You fit in Category 1.
Eat relatively healthy and been at the same weight for a while, but you don’t work out regularly? You probably are a Category 2.
Have you been working out and exercising regularly, eating less, and losing weight? Congratulations, you’re a Category 3!
The cause of obesity isn’t genetics (99.9% of the time), and it isn’t because our food is filled with fat and chemicals (though that is true to an extent).
It’s because of the fact that:
Our overall calorie intake has increased as food has become more accessible
Our activity levels have dropped due to our shift from manual labor to desk-jockey jobs
The ratio of bad foods to good has exponentially increased in recent decades.
Simply put, we have done this to ourselves! That’s right, the cause of obesity is us! Not the government (though they aren’t helping), not the Chinese (they’re actually on the band wagon too, but not as bad as the US), and certainly not your PE teacher in high school (but a lot of them need training too). You should go read about how Gandhi’s philosophy fits in here, and learn how to be the change for your children.
So what are the effects of obesity?
Glad you asked, but we have devoted an entire section to that because of the enormity of the problem. Click the headline above, to read about the cause and effect of obesity in children. The effects of obesity are the same whether you’re a child or an adult, but the severity of the problem can be worse the older you get. Plus, as a kid, it is easier to reverse these effects. Read here to learn how to reverse the effects of obesity.
To learn more about the Causes of Obesity, click here.
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I applaud your effort at addressing this important public health problem. However, your site, which I accidentally found in a google search for international obesity rates, is propounding a standard causal theory for obesity which does not fit with the observed real world and scientific data and is not helpful in understanding the true mechanisms driving this problem. Simply put, this failed idea is that obesity is caused by overeating (in various combinations with “underexercising”). As others have noted, this is equally as helpful a suggestion as telling an alcoholic that her problem is “overdrinking.” Both are absurdities, and in precisely the same manner: the way in which they reverse cause and effect in these problems. It is painfully obvious that an obese person is eating more calories than she is burning, as it is painfully obvious that an alcoholic is drinking more booze than is good for her health. The question is WHY? The closest that most “experts” come to answering this question is to blame it on our old nemeses SLOTH and GLUTTONY. As many states push bravely towards 40% obesity rates is it not time to think again and realize that this tired emphasis on personal failure of willpower is NOT GOOD ENOUGH? Don’t we need to find a real answer?
Obesity is a disorder characterized by a pathologic disregulation of fat tissue in the body leading to the accumulation of excess body fat. Net caloric intake is a necessary condition for this accumulation, but overeating is a result of disregulation of fat storage, not its cause. Since the early part of the 20th century we have known that insulin is the key player in regulation of human fat tissue. High blood insulin levels lead to excess partitioning of dietary calories as triglycerides within fat cells. High insulin levels are in turn largely a result of high dietary carbohydrate intake. CARBOHYDRATES drive INSULIN which drives FAT. An understanding of this simple fact makes an analysis of the true culprits in our current obesity epidemic surprisingly facile.
Telling an alcoholic that their problem is over drinking isn’t quite the same as telling someone who is obese that their issue is overeating. Considering the that alcoholism is a psychological disease. Granted some obese people use food as a coping mechanism like alcoholics use alcohol but not the vast majority of them. Carbohydrates aren’t the only culprit either. If the carbohydrates are not burned of the body stores them as fat for long term energy which our bodies have been designed to do. Carbs equal short term energy and fat is long term energy. The carbohydrates which are the real issue are simple carbs like processed sugar for example. The real issue this article is trying to bring to light is that our lives have become very sedentary where our foods have become very rich in processed foods which do not provide enough nutrients for our bodies. It also provides very simple and easy to do steps to live a healthier life. Eating less and exercising more isn’t the answer; understanding that processed foods don’t provide enough nutrients for your body causing your body to extract those nutrients from your muscles and tissues causing you to eat more to try and replace those nutrients is.