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by Sigma6 on October 3rd, 2003

Sigma6

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What factors affect your weight?

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  • by Sigma6 on October 3rd, 2003

    Sigma6

    Found on: http://my.webmd.com/content/healthwise/4/956

    Your weight is affected by three major factors: your genetic inheritance, nutrition, and physical activity.

    Genetics

    It is estimated that 30% to 40% of the difference in weight between individuals is due to heredity. Heredity affects basal metabolic rate, appetite and satiety (feeling full), body fat distribution, and possibly the tendency to be active or inactive.

    - Basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR determines the rate at which your body uses energy, and therefore, it affects your total energy needs. Some people have higher BMRs than others (based on heredity, height, body composition, and age). A lower BMR makes it easier to gain weight. A person's BMR can change slightly in response to certain conditions. For example, starvation or very low-calorie diets decrease a person's BMR. Overeating increases BMR, as do fever and severe physical stress, such as recovery from surgery or from extensive burns.

    - Body signals. Hunger, satiety, and appetite are body signals that tell you how much to eat. These signals can be influenced by the environment or ignored for short periods of time. They are powerful drives, and trying to ignore them for a long period of time (as in dieting behavior) can cause you to become obsessed with food.

    - Set point. Your body tries to keep your weight within a specific range, called your set point. Your body seems to regulate your weight similar to the way it regulates your temperature, blood pressure, and blood sugar (glucose) levels. Research has shown that your body will waste calories if you overeat and conserve calories if you undereat. Your set point range seems to be influenced by your genetic makeup, but your actual weight within that range is influenced by your lifestyle or environment. Your set point adjusts to a new level when it is maintained over time and can be altered by overeating, exercise, some medications, and some brain conditions. There is also a psychological set point. For example, people who are overweight and live with others who also are overweight see themselves that way and are more likely to accept additional weight gain.

    - Fat distribution. Your weight distribution changes as you age. Aging leads to replacement of lean muscle mass with fat. Men store more fat in the abdomen as they age and women store more in the hips and thighs as they age. Repeated weight loss and gain can change the proportion of fat to lean tissue in your body and actually increase your percentage of body fat.

    Nutrition

    Food advertising and the accessibility of fast foods tempt us to eat large servings, often of high-fat foods. In addition, many foods are presented as being better for you than they really are. For example, a low-fat cookie is still a cookie and can't really be considered nutritious. Potato chips labeled cholesterol-free are still high-fat, low-nutrient snack foods.

    A balanced, healthy diet supplies your body's nutritional needs, satisfies your hunger, decreases cravings, and decreases your risk for some diseases (like colon cancer and osteoporosis). In addition, you will generally feel better, have more energy, and be less likely to gain too much weight if you eat a healthy diet.

    People who eat regular meals tend to be closer to a weight that is good for them than people who eat on an irregular schedule. Planned meals are usually more nutritious than meals grabbed on the go or at the last minute. Also, skipping meals may make it more likely that you will overeat at the next meal or eat a less-than-nutritious snack.

    Physical activity

    Our modern lifestyles require less physical activity than lifestyles of 100 years ago or even a few decades ago, when most people had jobs that required physical labor. We work at jobs that require us to sit all day, and then we watch television at night. We have also created many labor-saving devices, from washing machines to remote controls for the television. All this has led to less than 22% of the United States population getting adequate physical activity.

    Physical activity is a very important way to prevent obesity and improve health. Regular exercise can improve blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, reduce blood sugar, and improve other indicators of disease. If you have depression, regular exercise can help lift your mood. It can also boost your self-image and self-esteem.

    You can be physically fit even if you are overweight or obese. In a study of more than 25,000 volunteers, researchers at the Cooper Clinic found that a person's fitness level was a stronger predictor of death than body weight. Overweight or obese men in this study who were physically fit had a lower death risk than men who were a healthy weight but were not physically fit.

    Factors that affect children's weight

    The above factors also affect a child's weight, along with the following:

    - Mother who had gestational diabetes. Children born to a woman who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy have a greater risk for becoming overweight and for developing diabetes.

    - Unwillingness to eat foods that they don't like. Children may prefer high-fat foods over vegetables, making a balanced diet difficult and weight gain more likely. They may also think that they don't like a food after having tried it only once or twice. In reality, it takes 8 to 10 times of being offered that same food before a preference is developed.

    - Family eating patterns or pressures, such as being required to finish all the food on the plate and obtaining food rewards for behavior. When parents control the meal size or persuade a child to eat, the child does not learn to depend on his or her body signals (hunger, satiety, and appetite) for when and how much to eat.

    Teens are also affected by peer pressure and the cultural influences that promote ultra-thinness. One study found that 59% of the teen girls were unhappy with their body shape, and 66% wanted to lose weight, yet only 29% were overweight. Magazine pictures influenced 69% of the girls idea of the perfect body shape, and 47% wanted to lose weight because of magazine pictures.

    Comments

    • great info. I dig it.

      Jane

      by Jane on January 25th, 2008

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