Weight gain has become a common problem in today’s life because of unhealthy food habits, eating patterns, lazy or busy lifestyle,s, and some other reasons. All of which leads to many health issues due to unable to maintain the body’s ideal weight. So let’s discuss all of these causes in detail.
Before we start we should know what is Ideal Body Weight.
So Ideal body weight (IBW) is a weight that is believed to be maximally healthful for a person, based chiefly on height but modified by factors such as gender, age, build, and degree of muscular development.

Now, what is overweight and obesity?

A weight that is above a weight considered normal or desirable leads to overweight and obesity.

Now let’s discuss the causes of weight gain.

1. Genetics

Obesity has a strong genetic component. Children of obese parents are much more likely to become obese than children of lean parents. But that doesn’t mean that obesity is completely predetermined. What you eat can have a major effect on which genes are expressed and which are not.

2. Certain Medications

Many pharmaceutical drugs can cause weight gain as a side effect. For example, antidepressants have been linked to modest weight gain over time. Other examples include diabetes medication, anti-psychotics, and steroidsThese drugs don’t decrease your willpower. They alter the function of your body and brain, reducing the metabolic rate or increased appetite.

3. Engineered Junk Foods

Heavily processed foods are often little more than refined ingredients mixed with additives. These products are designed to be cheap, last long on the shelf, and taste so incredibly good that they are hard to resist. By making foods as tasty as possible, food manufacturers are trying to increase sales. But they also promote overeating. Most processed foods today don’t resemble whole foods at all. These are highly engineered products, designed to get people hooked. Hence consumption of these products is also related to weight gain.

4. Food Addiction

Many sugar-sweetened, high-fat junk foods stimulate the reward centers in your brain. In fact, these foods are often compared to commonly abused drugs like alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and cannabis. Junk foods can cause addiction in susceptible individuals. These people lose control over their eating behavior, similar to people struggling with alcohol addiction losing control over their drinking behavior. Addiction is a complex issue that can be very difficult to overcome and lead to weight gain.

5. Insulin

Insulin is a very important hormone that regulates energy storage, among other things. One of its functions is to tell fat cells to store fat and to hold on to the fat they already carry. This elevates insulin levels all over the body, causing energy to get stored in fat cells instead of being available for use.

6. Certain medical conditions

People may also gain weight because of some medical issues like hypothyroid and PCOD. Because in these conditions hormonal levels get disturbed and leading to weight gain.

7. Lack of Exercise

If you consume high amounts of energy, particularly fat and sugars, but don’t burn off the energy through exercise and physical activity, much of the surplus energy will be stored by the body as fat.

8. Stress and low mood

People respond differently to stress, anxiety, and depressed mood. Some people may lose weight, while others may gain weight. People can turn to food as a coping mechanism. It can lead to a vicious circle. Weight gain from depression can make you more depressed, which can lead to further weight gain.