Association between Genes, Obesity, Overweight and Exercise

People with abnormal body fat with body mass index (BMI) over 25 are considered overweight, and about 30 are called obese (healthdirect.gov.au, 2022; who.int, 2018). The factors causing obesity and overweight of a person is through their inactivity and eating lifestyle. The association between their eating lifestyle and inactivity with obese and overweight are the no balance between energy taken and energy out which accumulates the fat in the body. 

Other factors of obese and overweight are genes and birth factors which include poor nutrition, maternal smoking, low birth weight, birth weight over 4 kg, and formula feeding (nhsinform.scot, 2023). Being overweight and obese causes a higher risk death from heart disease cardiovascular disease, chronic disease, cancer, and diabetes (betterhealth.vic.gov.au, 2019; medscape.com, 2023). Families with obesity and overweight are caused mainly by a change from a single gene.

Table 1 (personal doc.)

How do genes work on controlling energy balance? The brain controls food intake by responding to signals from fat tissue, the pancreas, and the digestive tract. Hormones such as leptin, insulin, and ghrelin, as well as other small molecules, transmit these signals. These signals are coordinated with other inputs by the brain, and the brain responds with instructions to the body, either to eat more and use less energy or to do the opposite(cdc.gov, 2013a).

Genes are the foundation for the signals and responses that guide food intake, and even minor changes in these genes can affect their activity levels. The Table contains a list of genes with obesity-related variants. (cdc.gov, 2013b).

             

Based on the National Institute of Health, the United Arab Emirates had the highest population of people with overweight and obesity in 2019. On the other hand, Japan has the lowest population of people with overweight and obesity. For people in the United Arab Emirates, obesity and being overweight are common diseases happening caused by unhealthy food choices, lack of physical activities, genetic, sedentary behavioral factors, and changes in cultural and social environments (indushealthplus.ae, 2019). In Japan, people have a balanced lifestyle with dietary habits and are active physically by consuming fewer calories that contain many nutrients (oishya.com, 2023; Senauer et al., 2023). This proof people in the United Arab Emirates are obese and overweight because mostly eat food containing lots of sugar and fats.

Image 1 (personal doc.)

To elaborate on health conditions, patients with obese and overweight could exercise to prevent death caused by disease from being obese and overweight (cdc.gov, 2023; worldobesity.org, 2022). Based on (uh.edu, 2007), the definition of exercise is a planned structured physical activity that could help maintain or improve one or more components of physical activities. Physical activity itself means an activity that describes many forms of movement which consist of aerobic, anaerobic, lifestyle, sports, weight-bearing, and physical activity play. The health-related components of exercise are flexibility, cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, and body composition.

For instance, exercise may be the best solution for patients with obese and overweight (hsph.harvard.edu, 2012). It is because one of the best ways to reduce weight is by burning the extra calories consumed by the body through exercise. Other solutions to help patients with obese and overweight treatment include a healthy diet with the support of exercise. Although most people with obese and overweight are motivated to exercise shown by arrow "A", unfortunately on the other hand, being obese and overweight could make people lazy to move which causes a lack of exercise shown by arrow "B" in image 2 (Tori Stone et al., 2021).

Image 2 (personal doc.)

To summarize this article, we can conclude that obesity is an abnormal weight disease caused by unbalanced energy being consumed and used which affects body health. Although obesity and overweight may commonly be found all over the world, these diseases can also cause a higher risk of death.

References:

betterhealth.vic.gov.au. (2019). Obesity. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/obesity
cdc.gov. (2013a). Genes and Obesity. https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/resources/diseases/obesity/obesedit.htm
cdc.gov. (2013b). Genes and Obesity. https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/resources/diseases/obesity/obesedit.htm
healthdirect.gov.au. (2022). Obesity. https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity#tab=tab_1
indushealthplus.ae. (2019). Obesity - Causes, Symptoms, Effects, and Prevention. https://www.indushealthplus.ae/obesity-causes-effect-prevention.html#:~:text=While%20the%20causes%20of%20obesity,and%20Unhealthy%20Diet%20and%20Nutrition
medscape.com. (2023). Obesity: Practice Essentials, Background, Pathophysiology. https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/123702-overview?form=fpf
nhsinform.scot. (2023). Obesity.
oishya.com. (2023). Why Japanese Diet Is Considered So Healthy? https://oishya.com/journal/why-japanese-diet-is-considered-so-healthy/#:~:text=The%20diet%20involves%20little%20highly,healthiest%20and%20longest%20living%20nations
Senauer, Benjamin, Gemma, & Masahiko. (2023). Why Is the Obesity Rate So Low in Japan and High in the U.S.? Some Possible Economic Explanations. https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/14321/?ln=en#:~:text=Food%20prices%20are%20substantially%20higher,part%20of%20their%20daily%20lives
uh.edu. (2007). Definitions of Physical Activity, Exercise, and Fitness. https://www.uh.edu/fitness/PPTs/Definitions.pdf
who.int. (2018). Obesity. https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity#tab=tab_1