Obesity: hereditary? Disease? Learned behavior? Laziness?

Obesity: hereditary? Disease? Learned behavior? Laziness?I know I will probably get blasted out of the cyber waters for this question, but what do you consider to be contributing factors in obesity?
In my maternal lineage, all the women seem to be very skinny from childhood to mid-twenties. Then something happens where they gain weight and cannot get it off. I know one person in our family died due to complications of obesity. She tried to lose, but could not, so it was not laziness.
I recently found results obtained by a study in Denmark of adopted children. The child's weight, adopted parents' weight and birth parents' weight were recorded for a different study over years. To be brief, the obese children had obese birth parents. The adoption program and the adoptive parents were both very pro-healthy lifestyle, so the only direct link for weight-gain was genetic.
Has anyone else read this? Do you know of any other studies? I know, many questions but I am....TC

Karen S
In my opinion, it can be any one of those factors, or a combination of more than one.

Sufi
the fact that our current environment is very different than the environment in which humans evolved and we are not adapted to such plentiful food. We were not designed to live with such an overabundance of food. We were designed to want to eat food, but unfortunately we have invented food that is 'too good' and we overeat because our biology drives us that way. We were designed to be moving a lot -and had to to survive in the evolutionary past but now our lives (school, work, tv, computers) mean we are sitting and not moving much.
It's not just any one family. Most of the USA is overweight.

lukedu186
I think it is hard to blame just one of those factors for obesity. I think each plays it's role in contributing to obesity. I think for each person it is different, and that is what makes obesity hard to beat for many people.

Agony Aunt
Hasn't it been proven that some ( I don't know the percentage ) actually have a condition where they don't know when they are full and keep eating?
I am obese myself - I struggled with my weight for years and finally gave up fighting. It turned out I have a thyroid condition that they are still trying to give me the correct dosagage.
I'm not making excuses - I've joined a slimming club today and intend to lose it. Three cheers for me, hip, hip,

Joseph, II
All of the above. But probably the BIGGEST factor contributing to Obesity- is the inability to keep ones mouth shut- when observing food. We've become a "see food" Society. We SEE others eating, or SEE a fast food place, or see a food Commercial on TV- and we've "gotta have some"! Our "mind set" of "gotta have it NOW..."- has turned us into walking Blimps- that can't get enough! :(

Give your answer to this question below! Discover the facts about obesity , including its most common causes, the effects on health and steps you can take to lose weight.  Your Online Source for Credible Health Information.

---

Orignal From: Obesity: hereditary? Disease? Learned behavior? Laziness?