Why is it so easy to gain weight?
There are many reasons for gaining weight but it’s often a combination of factors. The world we live in, and our experiences can make it harder to be a healthy weight.
In most countries around the world, more and more people are living with overweight or obesity. This varies between countries and unfortunately, the United Kingdom, United States and Australia are among those most affected.
There is a general agreement that these changes have occurred because the world we live in has changed so much over the last century. We travel by car, we tend to do less active jobs, meaning our lives can be less active. We also have a wider range of food and drink available to us at all times of the day, everywhere we go. These foods are often highly processed and are high in fat and sugar which means we consume more food and more energy. All these factors make it harder to be a healthy weight.
The world around us can affect our health and how many factors can affect weight gain:
Credit: Cancer Research UK
You have chosen the Social journey as the one that you feel is most like you. For you, food and/or drink are an important part of your life with your friends and family.
For example:
- Food and drink may be at the centre of daily life, your social life, or celebrations.
- You may enjoy cooking and having plenty of healthy food.
- Your love of food may mean you are eating generally larger portions.
- Your family may have expected you to clear your plate as a child and saying no isn’t considered polite.
- You may see yourself as being from a ‘big family’.
This means, you may end up eating a bit, or maybe a lot more than you need on a regular basis. When you are active you may burn off the extra energy from this food. When you are having more food and are less active, the extra energy not used is stored and you put on weight.
Food and drink are an important part of your family and social life so your journey and goals need to consider this, so you can keep enjoying the things you love in a healthier way.
You may find stabilising your weight is a good place to start.
Here are some individual reasons for weight gain.
Continue your journey
Click on the next page Long-term healthy weight management to continue your journey.
