Recently, obesity experts published a review paper naming the top ten reasons people become overweight. Some of the reasons are obvious, like the fact that the population is getting older and we tend to gain weight as we age. Other reasons on the list I hadn’t heard before, like exposure to pesticides and other pollution causing weight gain. Another unexpected reason making the top ten: our increasingly controlled climates. Spending time in comfortable temperatures (as in air-conditioned homes in the summer and well-heated homes in the winter) burns less calories than the more extreme temperatures that people had to deal with in the past.
Also included on the the list of reasons for obesity are not getting enough sleep, less smoking, prenatal effects, heavier people having more children, more drugs, and older first-time mothers. Be sure to read the full article for in-depth explanations and how the experts came up with this list.
