What causes overweight/obesity?

Unfortunately, although obesity is a common phenomenon in our society, there is still a prejudice against obese people, accused of 'laziness' or 'lack of character'.

 

However, scientific insights teach us that obesity is a complex disease, which cannot be traced solely back to a person's character. Obesity is caused by an interaction between genetic factors, behavior and the environment.

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Genetic Factors

 

This determines the extent to which a person is predisposed to obesity from birth. People whose parents are obese for example are more likely to develop obesity themselves.

 

Behaviour

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This includes how a person handles the differernt aspects of food. To what extend food is considerd as a reward, which food choices are made, etc. According to recent findings, sleep behavior also seems to play an important role in our weight homeostasis.

 

Environmental factors

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Over the past half century, there has been a shift in the food industry leading to a situation in which food is more and more processed and presented in large quantities, making the choice for healthy, high-quality food even more difficult. The term 'obesogenic' society is often used in this context, meaning that certain factors in society are focussed on promoting obesity by stimulating the consumption of products with a lot of fat and quick-acting sugars. A second important aspect related to our environment is the fact that routine exercise has become less part of our daily activities. Over the past decades, the majority of the population has adopted a 'sedentary' profession, in which trips to and from work are more often accompanied by little or no physical activity.

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It is generally stated that genetic factors contribute about 70% to the development of obesity. Non-genetic factors such as environment and behavior appear to be responsible for the remaining 30% of overweight and obesity. Due to the complex interaction in the development of obesity, this can vary between individuals. 

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