Obesity (肥胖症) is becoming a problem in our busy society, almost one in three American adults is now considered to be obese. Children obesity is also at an all-time high.
Obesity means being very overweight. If you are obese, you have too much body-fat. If you eat more food than your body can use, this will make you put on weight. Food that your body does not need will be stored (储存) as fat by your body.
The following are the major factors (因素) that increase the risk of obesity.
What you eat plays a major role in weight gain. Eating a lot of fattening food such as hamburgers, sweet drinks, ice creams and other sweet food can increase the risk of becoming obese.
If you do not do enough exercise, you will put on weight as the food you eat is not being used to make energy for physical activities.
The chances of your being obese are greater if your parents are obese.
There are many psychological (心理的) factors that cause people to eat too much. People who are worried, unhappy or bored will often eat to make themselves feel better. This is known as comfort eating.
Age is another factor, as you tend (趋于) to be less active when you get older. When you get older, you need to eat less, and if you do not eat less, you will put on weight.
Obesity can cause many health problems such as heart problems, high blood pressure and many other serious medical conditions.
