Inggita Prasasya Swasti

The Causes and Effects of Obesity

Thesis Statement: Obesity is influenced by environment, behavior, and genes factors that lead to
psychological, social, and health problems
Body Paragraph (Cause 1) Environment and Behavior Factors
The food and physical environment in which people live plays a huge role in the behavior of choosing
food and physical activity in daily routine.
A. Food Environment
Nowadays the number of junk food restaurant especially in Indonesia grow rapidly because
government do not have any regulation about food nutrition that must be sold and the demand
of junk food is very high.
B. Physical Environment
Unsupported facilities and social surroundings make people harder to have physical activity as a
daily habit.
Body Paragraph (Cause 2) Genes
Our genes influence how people control their appetite and metabolism system so peoples weight can
be increased easily.
Body Paragraph (Effect 1) Psychological effects
Obese people mostly have low self-esteem and social interaction because of their poor body image that
can lead to depression
Body Paragraph (Effect 2) Health effects
Obesity can cause many serious illnesses like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory
disease
Conclusion
To summarize, obesity is influence by food and physical environment and also genes that cause people
having low self-esteem and social interaction and lead to many serious illnesses.
Inggita Prasasya Swasti
The Causes and Effects of Obesity

According to World Health Organization (WHO), obesity is defined as abnormal or excessive fat
accumulation that presents a risk to health. Some people measure obesity based on the body mass
index (BMI) which is a persons weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of his or her height (in
meters). A person with a BMI of 30 or more is generally considered as obese people. Obesity used to be
considered as a developed countries problem but nowadays obesity case is increasing dramatically in
developing countries. In my opinion, Obesity is influenced by environment, behavior, and genes factors
that lead to psychological, social, and health problems.
The food and physical environment in which people live plays a huge role in the behavior of choosing
food and physical activity in daily routine. Nowadays the number of junk food restaurant especially in
Indonesia grow rapidly because government do not have any regulation about food nutrition that must
be sold and the demand of junk food is very high. For example, people can have various choices of junk
food restaurant in one mall like Mc Donald, KFC, Burger King, Chicken Story and many others.
Unsupported facilities and social surroundings make people harder to have physical activity as a daily
habit. For example, biking to work still not as a majority daily habit for Jakarta citizen because there are
only few bicycle ways in Jakarta. Harvard Research shows that social surrounding is important as models,
encouragers, and facilitators especially parents. They should encourage children and adolescents to do
physical activity like buying sports equipment and taking children to sports center or sports courses.
Our genes influence how people control their appetite and metabolism system. Some peoples weight
can be increased easily while others not. Researchers already identified the obesity-related gene
variants that are gene on chromosome 16 (4, 5) and on chromosome 18 (6, 7). These gene variant are
fairly common, and people who carry one have a 20 to 30 percent higher risk of obesity than people
who do not.
Food and physical environment and also our genes are factors influencing people to have obesity
problem. Obesity leads to two problems that are psychological and health problems which will be
explained in the following paragraphs.
Obese people mostly have low self-esteem and social interaction because of their poor body image that
can lead to depression. Many people who are overweight have disapproval from their society caused by
Inggita Prasasya Swasti
a lack of self-discipline or moral weakness. Many obese people prefer not to go out in public because
they feel unconfident to enjoy activities that most people do like going to the movies because the seats
are too small. This experience can lead to depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem.
Obesity can cause many serious illnesses like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory
disease. Excess weight diminishes almost every aspect of health from reproductive and respiratory
function to memory and mood. Obesity increases the risk of several deadly diseases including diabetes,
heart disease, and some cancers. Obesity decreases the quality and length of life, and increases
individual, national, and global healthcare costs.
To summarize, obesity is influenced by how the food and physical environment changing overtime. It
also involves gene problems. Obesity can cause people having low self-esteem and social interaction
that lead to depression. Moreover, it leads to serious illnesses like diabetes, cardiovascular disease,
cancer, and respiratory disease.