• It is essential to understand that just like diabetes and hypertension, obesity is also a disease that requires proper treatment. While overeating and lack of physical activity can contribute to obesity, many other factors can also play a role. These include genetics, certain medical conditions, and medication side effects.
• People with obesity have abnormalities in the circuitry related to various areas of the brain like hypothalamus and amydala. There are changes in the neurons like POMC/CART and AgRP/NPY that regulate the weight. In addition, there are hormones like Ghrelin which stimulate hunger and others like GLP-1, Cholecystokinin, Leptin and Amylin which leads to satiety. These hormones are produced by the gut, adipose tissue, or pancreas.
• External factors like diet and physical activity are part of the obesogenic environment that facilitate obesity. And these are potentially modifiable too. But these alone do not lead to obesity.