Obesity Essay, Research Paper
OBESITY – NATURE OR NURTURE?
Obesity is a disease or condition that is caused by both Nature and Nurture. In this essay you will read examples and facts that show that obesity is the result of family genes, and through your own personal satisfaction, or decisions. So you will understand that people who you see that are huge, aren’t always that way because they are pigs. Some people have no choice because it’s in their genes.
Obesity tends to run in families, meaning that it may have a genetic cause. However, family members share not only genes but also diet and lifestyle habits that may contribute to obesity. Separating these lifestyle factors from genetic ones is often difficult. Still, growing evidence points to heredity as a strong determining factor of obesity. In one study of adults who were adopted as children, researchers found that the subjects’ adult weights were closer to their biological parents’ weight than their adoptive parents’. The environment provided by the adoptive family apparently had less influence on the development of obesity than the person’s genetic makeup.
Although genes are an important factor in many cases of obesity, a person’s environment also plays a very important part. Environment includes lifestyle behaviors such as what a person eats and how active he or she is. Americans tend to have high-fat diets. Which means they usually prefer the way something tastes over how healthy it is. Most Americans also don’t get enough exercise.
People can’t change their genetic makeup, but they can change what they eat and how active they are. Some people have been able to lose weight and keep it off. Psychological factors also may influence eating habits. Many people eat in response to negative emotions such as boredom, sadness, or anger. Most overweight people have no more confusion than normal weight people, about 30 percent of the people who seek treatment for serious weight problems have difficulties with binge eating.
So as you can see, Obesity is the result of high diets and putting taste before health. Also that they eat a lot and don’t exercise enough. But it is also the result of genetic make up. The human body controls the weight of the thin people with the same basic equipment as it does with fat people. So in closing, a lot of people are obese, do not deserve any blame for being driven by their own biology.