Obesity usually results from a combination of causes and contributing factors, including:
- InactivityIf you’re not very active, you don’t burn as many calories. With a sedentary lifestyle, you can easily take in more calories every day than you use through exercise and normal daily activities.
- Unhealthy diet and eating habits. Having a diet that’s high in carbohydrates and/or calories.
- Lack of sleep. Too little sleep can cause changes in hormones that increase your appetite and can cause cravings for foods high in calories and carbohydrates, which contribute to weight gain.
- Certain medications. Some medications can lead to weight gain. These medications include some antidepressants, anti-seizure medications, diabetes medications, antipsychotic medications, corticosteroids and beta blockers.
- Medical problems such as metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. If you do have these conditions you can become obese despite a healthy diet and appropriate amounts of exercise