Obesity is not only a cosmetic symptom that affects the human figure and leads to the accumulation of excess fat cells on different areas of the body, which gives a feeling of dissatisfaction that may develop into depression and deterioration of the psychological state in cases of severe obesity … It does not stop at this point, which is the external appearance of the body as it goes beyond that to the accumulation of fat cells on the vital internal organs of the body, which may lead to disruption in the performance of their functions and endanger human life. It is necessary to identify the causes and effects of obesity on human health.
Obesity causes:
1- Early childhood:
This type of obesity appears in children in early childhood, where fat cells appear as a result of wrong eating habits, and their number and size increases with the growth of the child. Obesity in this case is inherent in a person in the stages of his life and is resistant to various forms of treatment.
2- Adolescence stage:
It is that critical transitional stage in which the child moves from childhood to face another world of needs in addition to the accelerated physiological growth. This coincides with certain psychological situations where emotions prevail and behavioral frustrations abound due to the adolescent’s exposure to many difficult daily situations, whether emotional or social related to parents and peers or problems related to educational achievement. So the adolescent tends to escape from the situation and unload these negative charges by craving for food, especially sweet and sugary foods, thus increasing the size of his fat cells and exposing him to obesity.
3- The postpartum stage:
where there is another cute being sharing the food with the mother, so this mother resorts to increasing the size of her daily meals and taking care of their quality as well in order to secure the necessary food for her and her child, which leads to the accumulation of fat cells in her body if this situation coincides with lack of movement and lack of exercise Appropriate exercise.
4- Women’s menstruation in its different stages:
Women notice an increase in their appetite for food a few days before their period, and for real, a woman’s appetite for food increases and her ability to retain sodium decreases and therefore water retention decreases, and a weak type of swelling occurs as a result of a temporary hormonal disorder. The severity of these symptoms varies from one woman to another, but during menopause, a hormonal disorder occurs in a woman, affecting the center of appetite in her brain. This is an insignificant reason besides the difficult and violent psychological state accompanying menopause of anxiety and frustration, and the pessimistic view of life may push its owner to flee and compensate by increasing the quantities of food.
5- The age of a person:
As we talked about obesity that appears in children at an early age and leads to an increase in the number of fat cells, there is obesity that begins to appear in the third decade of life and continues to increase until the fifth or sixth decade, when body weight stabilizes after that and this type is characterized by the enlargement of fat cells.
6- Genetic factor:
If there is a family history with obesity, this is beyond the control of the human being, because the genes inherited from one generation to another play an important role in the human body’s readiness for obesity, so we must confront this factor with a healthy lifestyle as a kind of resistance to genetic factors.
7- Contemporary lifestyle:
Most people today use modern household appliances, cars and means of transportation, and work in office work in which there is no movement. Lack of physical activity and a sedentary life are among the most important factors that lead to weight gain.
8- Wrong eating habits:
They are food habits that coincide with the contemporary lifestyle and the fast pace of life, such as eating fast food between meals, eating a lot of sugars and fats, watching TV for long periods, eating nuts, and holding feasts on social and religious occasions, which are usually high-calorie foods.
9- Psychological reasons:
Studies conducted in this field have shown that the emotional state of the individual may lead to an increase in a person’s appetite for food and consequently weight gain or lead to weight loss and the occurrence of cases of depression and psychological anxiety.
10- Physiological reasons:
They are many, the most important of which are:
– Disorders of the glands: which results in an increase in the secretion of adrenal gland hormones, which in turn leads to a type of obesity in the upper part of the body, also the lack of secretion of thyroid hormones leads to obesity, and obesity also occurs when an imbalance occurs in the anterior pituitary gland.
– Metabolism: As the rate of combustion inside the body in cases of obesity is less than the normal rate, which leads to an imbalance in the regulation of body weight as a result of the deposition of fat inside the body.
– Neurological diseases: Usually, disorders of the central nervous system, especially the hypothalamus, a very small organ located above the pituitary gland and controlling appetite and desire for food, lead to a satisfactory increase in appetite.
– Digestive diseases: It leads to a permanent feeling of hunger in some people, and thus an increase in the quantities of food eaten and the occurrence of obesity.
– Pharmacological treatment: especially hormonal drugs that a person takes as a treatment for specific diseases. The most famous of these hormonal drugs are contraceptive pills, cortisone and its derivatives, some nerve-calming drugs that lead to decreased movement and sometimes an increase in appetite, and some anti-inflammatory, vitamins and minerals.
Effects of obesity on human health
-Bone degeneration
-Cardiac fatigue.
-Atherosclerosis and high blood pressure.
-Diabetes.
-Breathing difficulties .
-Rapid exhaustion.
-Decreased mental activity. As a result of the lack of oxygen to the nervous system, which leads to a lack of attention, concentration, cognition, lethargy and lack of movement with a tendency to sleep.
-Lack of physical activity: As a result of the lack of oxygen to the muscles, this makes the muscles contract and become unable to continue to complete the work with a feeling of fatigue in the muscle that did not reach the sufficient amount of oxygen.
Obesity is considered the disease of the age, which has been associated with changing lifestyles in different regions of the world and among all peoples, in addition to the terrible psychological pressures facing humans as a result of disasters and wars and the accompanying difficult economic and social conditions, all of which are poured into one crucible, which is the spread of obesity, which must be confronted through knowing the causes and effects of obesity on human health.
