What are the leading causes of obesity?
The most significant factor really is our lifestyle. That’s the only way that we can understand why the numbers of obese patients or individuals has risen so quickly. Again, that’s the food that’s everywhere and the physical inactivity. But genetics plays a role as well. We currently think that genetics determines a vulnerability to our environment, which then brings out the obesity. There are other causes, although less common. They include drug-induced obesity, such as people on different corticosteroids or different hormonal agents. Those medications can increase body weight, not to mention things like antidepressants and other drugs used for mental health disorders. Rarely is an underlying medical condition a cause for obesity. That would be something like Cushing’s syndrome or different kinds of glandular problems. But they are, once again, very uncommon. What is the first step in getting treatment for obesity? Where does a person go for help? There are several places an individua
