Causes of obesity: a review
- PMID: 37524429
- PMCID: PMC10541056
- DOI: 10.7861/clinmed.2023-0168
Causes of obesity: a review
Abstract
Obesity research is advancing swiftly, but the increase in obesity prevalence is faster. Over the past three decades, researchers have found that biopsychosocial factors determine weight gain much more than personal choices and responsibility. Various genes have found to predispose people to obesity by interacting with our obesogenic environment. In this review, we discuss the impact of physical inactivity, excessive caloric intake, intrauterine environment, postnatal influences, insufficient sleep, drugs, medical conditions, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, psychosocial stress, endocrine disrupting chemicals and the gastrointestinal microbiome, on the occurrence of obesity.
Keywords: causes; environment; epigenetics; genetics; modifiable; modifiable factors; obesity.
© Royal College of Physicians 2023. All rights reserved.
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