Here are some of the most common culprits believed to be behind the obesity epidemic:

An Obesogenic Environment

Experts think a constellation of environmental factors may be responsible, in part, for prompting us to eat more calories in a day than needed. Together, they create what is called an obesogenic, or obesity-promoting, environment. Some of these features include:

A shift towards snacking. Those calories tend to be in addition to our meals, meaning we don’t compensate for that 3 p.m. bag of chips by eating less at dinner.

Mushrooming portion sizes. A typical fast food beverage in the 1950s was seven ounces. Today's drinks are often 42 ounces. Meanwhile, hamburgers and fry portions have tripled in size.

Widespread availability of ultra-processed foods. We’re talking candy, cookies, chips, and soda—all of which somehow manage to be calorically high yet nutritionally devoid.

Drifting away from home cooking. More than half of our calories come from outside the home. These dishes tend to be higher in fat and sugar than home-cooked food.

Targeted marketing. If you shop online for a certain less-than-healthy snack, targeted ads for similar products will start popping up on your social media feed. In another form of targeted marketing, companies that make fast food, soda, and other processed foods are known to concentrate their marketing efforts in black and Hispanic communities.

Access to cars and public transportation. Driving everywhere means there’s no need to walk, and walking burns calories. Less calorie-burn while eating the same amount of food raises the odds of weight gain.

Calorie Quality

Not all calories are created equal. What we mean by that is that 100 calories of almonds don’t affect your weight in the same way as 100 calories of nachos. Your body has to work harder to digest foods that are rich in fiber and protein than it does to digest refined carbohydrates, such as white bread, pasta, and candy. Researchers call this the “thermic effect” of food.

In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, subjects ate the same diet with the same number of calories for six weeks with one exception: when it came to grains, one group incorporated whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat bread, and oats) while the other ate refined grains like white bread. Those people in the whole grain group burned nearly 100 more calories per day, simply due to thermic effect.

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