Obesity

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Obesity

Obesity

also called CORPULENCE, or FATNESS, excessive accumulation of body fat, usually caused by the
consumption of more calories than the body can use. The excess calories are then stored as fat, or adipose
tissue. Overweight, if moderate, is not necessarily obesity, particularly in muscular or large-boned
individuals. In general, however, a body weight
20 percent or more over the optimum tends to be associated with obesity.

The body's ability to adjust food intake to body needs can be disturbed by numerous factors. Of these,
hormone imbalances and glandular defects are believed to be of least importance, being demonstrable in
only bout 5 percent of all obese individuals. Although obesity may be familial, suggestive of a genetic
predisposition to fat accumulation, there is also evidence that early feeding patterns imposed by the obese
mother upon her offspring may play a major role in a cultural, rather than genetic, transmission of obesity
from one generation to the next. More generally, the distinctive way of life of a nation and the individual's
behavioral and emotional reaction to it may contribute significantly to widespread obesity. Among the
affluent populations, an abundant supply of readily available high-calorie foods and beverages, coupled
with increasingly sedentary living habits that markedly reduce caloric needs, can easily lead to overeating.
The stresses and tensions of modern liv!
ing also cause some individuals to turn to foods and...

Submitted by: digitalessays
Date Submitted: 01-20-02 7:17am
Category: Science
Words: 443
Pages: 1.77