ower general health because of lack of exercise. The decreased freedom of movement in obese patients with arthritis also makes treatment difficult. In many parts of the world, obese people may be rejected in various ways. Fat people are often treated unkindly by others, including their classmates in school. They generally have less social success than other people and may find it harder to get jobs. Causes of Obesity Overeating. You can gain or lose weight as a result of eating more or fewer calories than you need. A calorie is a unit used to measure the heat energy that the body gets from a certain amount of food. If you eat more calories than you use, most will turn into body fat. If you eat fewer than you use, your body will convert its fat into energy. During any period of days or weeks, if you eat 3,500 more calories than you use, you will gain 1 pound (0.5 kilogram). You will lose a pound of body fat if you eat 3,500 fewer calories than you use. Some countries that use the metric system measure the heat energy obtained from food in joules instead of calories. About 4,182 joules equal one calorie. A surplus of calories is necessary for growth in children and pregnant women. But they will gain excess body fat if they eat too many calories. See CALORIE. The amount of food you eat can play a much more important role in weight control than the kinds of food. People who are overweight, of normal weight, or underweight may all eat the same kinds of food. Their weight difference results from the amount and type of food they eat in relation to the amount of energy they use. Certain centers in the brain control appetite, hunger, and satiety, the group of sensations that cause you to stop eating when your appetite and hunger have been satisfied. These brain centers normally make people eat an amount of food that provides enough energy for their needs. The feeding centers cause people to want to eat. The satiety centers ...
