PART 8 of the series in
"The weight of our nation:
India"
The
fundamental cause of obesity is the increase in calorie consumption and
decrease in calorie expenditure. This is termed as energy imbalance. Energy
imbalance is caused due to a number of reasons. The medical term for a range of
causes in combination to cause obesity is termed as obesogenic environment.
Obesogenic environment again involves many factors and we are going to look
upon them in India in relation to obesity.
One such
factor is genetics and heredity. Thriftiness which involves the thrifty gene is seen in Asia and India. This causes
metabolic syndromes, obesity and even diabetes mellitus.
In a nation of
starvation this gene would have been very helpful as it helps to store up fat
in the body and utilize it during food scarcity. Thriftiness is a very important
factor during obesity research. The focus has shifted from the thrifty gene to
the thrifty phenomenon as there has been a connection of low birth rate and
obesity in later life. For a population surviving with not enough nutrition
this thrifty gene would have been beneficial as it would have helped store fat
for times of need; but as a country progressing towards urbanization and
industrialization, this has caused less opportunity for physical activity and
more choice as to what food can be consumed.
This leads to more energy
consumption; this energy is not utilized and therefore stored by the adipose
tissue and further what adds fuel to the fire is the thrifty gene. There are
also other genetic factors which lead to obesity, although genetic deficiencies
are rare, they do exist and are one of the causes of obesity.
Genetic
Variations controlling appetite and metabolism affect the person’s dietary
pattern. Also Leptin Deficiency and Leptin Receptor Deficiency are a few of the
many other deficiencies which lead to obesity.
No comments:
Post a Comment