Why do energy imbalances occur?

While we are at risk of at least becoming overweight in the modern ‘obesogenic’ environment, particular factors influence why we gain weight.

These include:

Weight cycling. The effect of weight loss followed by weight regain on long term health is unclear, although there are associations between the number of failed weight loss attempts and health risks.

Life Stage. Weight gain is a common, although not inevitable, part of aging and various life stages – for example, after pregnancy, and during menopause.

Life events. Many people gain weight during certain life events such as getting married, giving up sport, or quitting smoking. Weight gain after quitting smoking can be significant. For this reason, instituting a weight management plan at the time of quitting may help reduce the weight gain that normally occurs after quitting.

Family, work and social environments can influence weight gain and the inability to lose weight as it may be more difficult to lose weight if those around us are eating an unbalanced diet.

Genetic predisposition can influence the amount and rate at which we gain and lose weight.

Stress may need to be considered as a factor that can cause either weight gain or weight loss. There may be metabolic factors associated with stress and in addition stress can affect peoples eating habits.

Medical conditions such as hypothyroidism are known to cause weight gain.

Prescription medications can cause weight gain (in particular, benzodiazepines, corticosteroids, anti-psychotics, tricyclic antidepressants, anti-epileptics, sulphonylureas, hormone treatments and insulin).