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The Causes and Effects of Obesity

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Causes and Effects of Obesity Overview Obesity according to Birmingham and Treasure "means there is an excess of adipose tissue (fat) in the body" (195). Today, hardly a day goes without the mention of an obesity related issue in the news. In a way, obesity is increasingly becoming a national epidemic. As medical practitioners debate on whether or not obesity should be regarded a disease, policy makers are mulling over what course of action should be adopted so as to rein in the problem of obesity. In an attempt to bring to the fore the need for decisive measures aimed at bringing down obesity rates, the following sections of this text will address the causes and effects of obesity. Causes Generally, the risk factors causing obesity can be grouped into three. These according to Ali include an individual's lifestyle, genetic factors, and a host of medical conditions. It should however be noted that rarely does any of the causes listed above cause obesity without the influence of the other groups. For this reason, Ali further points out that "the most probable cause of obesity is therefore a combination of the three groups." To begin with, when it comes to lifestyle, it should be noted that with the conveniences of modern technology, people are increasingly spending lives of relative inactivity. Due to their inability to burn calories, inactive people are more likely than not to gain weight and hence become obese. According to Ali, there is a reason as to why prehistoric

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