Weight gain

Weight gain is an increase in body weight. This can be either an increase in muscle mass, fat deposits, or excess fluids such as water.

Description

In some cases, weight gain can also occur as a result of developing tumors or other abnormal growths. Muscle weight gain can occur as a result of bodybuilding, in which muscle size is increased through strength training.

If enough weight is gained by way of increased body fat deposits, one may become overweight.Overweight is generally defined as having more body fat (adipose tissue) than is optimally healthy.

Being overweight is a common condition, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary. As much as 64% of the United States adult population is considered either overweight or obese, and this percentage has increased over the last four decades. [cite journal | author=Katherine M. Flegal, PhD; Margaret D. Carroll, MS; Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD; Clifford L. Johnson, MSPH | title=Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999-2000 | journal=JAMA | year=2002 | volume=288 | issue=14 | pages=1723–1727 | url=http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/288/14/1723 | pmid=12365955 | doi=10.1001/jama.288.14.1723.]

Symptoms

* A noticeably larger stomach
* Increase in body fat percentage
* Increase in muscle mass
* Increase in body hydration levels
* Increase in breast size
* The abdomen will bulge outward and upward, creating a distended midsection

Causes

In regards to adipose tissue increases, a person generally gains fat-related weight by increasing food consumption and/or becoming physically inactive. A study, involving more than 12,000 people tracked over 32 years, found that social networks play a surprisingly powerful role in determining an individual's chances of gaining weight, transmitting an increased risk of becoming obese from wives to husbands, from brothers to brothers and from friends to friends. [cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/25/AR2007072501353.html
title=Obesity Spreads In Social Circles As Trends Do, Study Indicates
last=Stein
first=Rob
work=Washington Post
date=2007-07-26
page=A01] [cite journal|author= Nicholas A. Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and James H. Fowler, Ph.D.| title=The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years| journal=NEJM| year=2007| volume=357| pages=370-379| issue=4| date=2007-07-26| pmid=17652652| url=http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/4/370]

Impact

Excess adipose tissue on a human can lead to medical problems; however, a round or large figure does not of itself imply a medical problem, and is sometimes not primarily caused by adipose tissue. If too much weight is gained, serious health side-effects may follow. A large number of medical conditions have been associated with obesity. Health consequences are categorised as being the result of either increased fat mass (osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, social stigma) or increased number of fat cells (diabetes, some forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease).cite journal
author=Haslam D, James WP
journal=The Lancet
title=Obesity
volume=366
issue=9492
pages=1197-1209
year=2005
doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67483-1] cite journal |author=Bray GA |title=Medical consequences of obesity |journal=J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. |volume=89 |issue=6 |pages=2583–9 |year=2004 |pmid=15181027 |doi=10.1210/jc.2004-0535] There are alterations in the body's response to insulin (insulin resistance), a proinflammatory state and an increased tendency to thrombosis (prothrombotic state).

Social Perspective

Though excess weight has been traditionally seen in contemporary society as "unacceptable", it is becoming more socially acceptable as more and more people become overweight and obese. [ [http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/79184.php Obesity Among Women In U.S. Becoming More Socially Acceptable, Study Says] ]

Obesity among women residing in the U.S. has become more socially acceptable, likely in part because more than one-third of women ages 20 and older are obese, according to a study published in the July issue of Economic Inquiry [cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1465-7295.2007.00025.x| title=Social Dynamics of Obesity| doi_brokendate=2008-10-06| author=Mary A. Burke, Frank Heiland| journal=Economic Inquiry| year=2007| volume=45| issue=3| pages=571-591] , the Washington Times reports.

For the study, Frank Heiland, an assistant professor of economics at Florida State University's Center for Demography and Population Health, and Mary Burke, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, analyzed data from CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The researchers found that the average weight of women between ages 30 and 60 has increased by 20 pounds, or 14%, since 1976. Among women who weigh 300 pounds or more, the increase was 18%, the researchers found.

The researchers also found that self-image has changed and that obesity has become more socially acceptable. According to the study, the average women weighed 147 pounds in 1994 but stated that she wanted to weigh 132 pounds. By 2002, the average women weighed 153 pounds but said she wanted to be 135 pounds, the study found. "The fact that even the desired weight of women has increased suggests there is less social pressure to lose weight," the researchers noted.

See also

*Healthy diet
*Fad diet
*Fat feminism
*Fat acceptance movement
*Weight stigma

References

External links

* [http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsformedicaldisorders/f/GainWeight.htm How to Gain Weight]
* [http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/forum.asp?articlekey=24750 Weight Gain - Symptoms and Signs]