As a chronic disease, it also leads to many diseases such as diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, gallbladder disease and hypertension.

Although there are many other factors, excessive eating and high calorie diet, as well as inadequate exercise and physical activity in daily life are considered to be the most obvious causes. Besides these factors, many physiological, genetic, environmental and psychological factors are also among the related causes of obesity, and predisposition to obesity, endocrine diseases and antipsychotic drugs can also be considered among other hidden causes of obesity.

As a result of the research conducted today, it was ascertained that it is impossible to explain the causes of obesity only by genetic changes, because of the increased incidence of childhood obesity. Therefore, environmental factors are prioritized among the underlying causes of obesity. The main underlying causes of obesity include;

• Excessive eating and high calorie diet
• Inadequate exercise and physical activity
• Psychological factors
• Genetic factors
• Medications being used
• Frequent and low-calorie diets
• Age
• Gender
• Educational level
• Social and cultural factors.

There is an increase in obesity in society due to less use of body power as a result of today’s developing technology. It is possible to explain this with the spread of means of transportation and the restriction of daily movements. In addition, the widespread consumption of high-calorie fast-foods contributes to the development of this situation. For this reason, a person’s eating habits and maintaining them are very important. Many documents published by UNICEF emphasizes the importance of breastfeeding up to 6 months and the continuation of breastfeeding combined with complementary foods from the age of 6 months. Continuing breastfeeding for 2 years is reported to significantly reduce the risks of obesity and chronic diseases.