11 Random Things That Make You Gain

Obviously being inactive and eating unhealthy is a cause of weight gain, but there are some other surprising things that make people gain weight. I came across this article ant figured I would share it with you too!

1.) Catching a Cold- One particular strand  of the common cold virus called adenovirus 36 can cause obesity. According to the journal Pediatrics in September they found that in a study of 124 children, approximately 80 percent of the kids exposed were obese and weighed about 50 pounds more than children that were not exposed.

2.) Turning on the A/C- When people live in comfortable temperatures our bodies don't have to work to keep cool or warm, according to the 2006 article in the international Journal of Obesity.

3.) Having a mom that works- kids with a working mom are more likely to be obese than kids whose mom stays at home. This was found in a study published in May in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

4.) Not sleeping enough- By doing this we increase the risk of being obese, according to a 2007 study in the Journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. This is because of hormonal changes (kind of what I've already talked about). According to a study in the 2008 Journal of Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition sleep restriction can cause hunger, and obviously when we're tired we don't want to be very physically active which makes us gain even more weight.

5.) Getting your tonsils removed- Research from St. Louis University found that kids who had their tonsils taken out gain more weight after having the procedure done. In the study they found that BMI (body mass index) increased by 5.5 percent to 8.2 percent after the surgery.

6.) Keeping the light on at night- According to a study that was published in October in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they found that mice that were exposed to dim light at night gained 50 percent more weight over a period of eight weeks than mice that spent the night in complete darkness. To make sure that the study was fair the mice obviously had the same amount of food and physical activity. The researchers of this study said that these results could also be applied to those who eat meals late at night (which we all know is bad).

7.) Having a mom that is older- OK so obviously our mothers are going to age just like the rest of us, but according to a study in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood it was found that children born to women ages 30 or older had  2.6 to 2.8 percent more body fat than children born to women younger than 25. The Journal of the American Medical Association found in a study in 1997 that obesity was higher among nine and 10-year-old girls whose mother's gave birth to them after the age of 35, compared  to girls whose mothers gave birth to them when they were 21 or younger.

8.) Exposure to environmental contaminants- According to studies published in the Journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition and the International Journal of Obesity, pollution could have an impact on the bodies metabolism. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals like bisphenol A (I talked about this a while back, this is why we don't microwave things in plastic) and polybrominated diphenyl (a flame retardant), have been found in obese people. This is because these chemicals interfere with hormone signaling. Also pesticides can affect the hormone synthesis and metabolism and make their way into our bodies by going up the food chain.

9.) Genetics- Scientists have found 18 new genetic markers that make us obese, and 13 new markers that could determine whether fat builds around the waist or the hips. These findings were published in two studies this month alone  founds in the journal Nature Genetics. Most of these markers were in or near genes not previously connected to obesity and by learning what it is that these genes do, scientists may find causes of obesity in different people.

10.) Having a mom who ate a high-fat diet during pregnancy- Researchers from the University of Cincinnati and also from the Medical College of Georgia found that mice fed a high-fat diet were more likely to have babies that were bigger than those fed a normal diet. A study in the FASEB Journal done in 2009 found that being oversized at birth was a risk factor for obesity later in ones life. The researchers of this study believe that the findings of the mice could also apply to humans.

11.) Meds- Some medications taken for depression, diabetes, hypertension and birth control can cause people to gain weight. Anti-depressents in the United States has increased by about 5 percent between 1988 and 2002 (according to a study in the Journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition in 2009).

So based off these random things that can cause weight gain I can say that having an A/C is kind of a necessity to me and it saddened me to see that it was a cause of weight gain. Another thing would obviously be the not getting enough sleep I am truly guilty of that, but I blame college/grad school for that. Environmental contaminants I now know to look out for and will hopefully no longer be a problem and as far as genetics I know that's an issue and that I will just have to work that much harder. I was glad to see that I only had four of the 11 things working against me. Sadly some of these things (if not most) are things that we have no control over, however I guess being aware of the situations make it easier for us to understand why). I hope this was informative to you all. More factoids to come tomorrow!