Adil Lalani “ December 2013 ˜Obesity isn't just about diet.' Discuss this statement with reference to biological theories of obesity ˜Around half British adults are overweight, and 17 per cent of men and 21 per cent of women are obese.' [Jam13] This quote found in an article on a popular website highlighting the current death rate caused by obesity across Europe shows how mainstream this issue has become. The World Health Organisation predicts that health issues caused by obesity such as diabetes, kidney failure and heart problems will soon be the leading cause of death across the all world countries. This is an issue that is gaining critical importance in today's society. Obesity can be defined as the accumulation of excess body fat above ˜ideal' or ˜normal' boundaries as calculated by reference to the Body Mass Index (BMI). In males normal is considered to be between 20-25 percent body fat and for women between 25-30 percent body fat. The obesity index is further subdivided into grade I, II and III categories with each escalating in the amount of body fat. Grade III obesity is considered morbidly obese. Scientific developments in the last 50 years are helping us to understand the causes of obesity and educate the population on how to combat it. The traditional view that obesity is simply an imbalance between energy we input into our system and energy we use is being challenged and refined. Understandably there has been a vociferous defence of the traditional theory of weight gain given the multibillion pound global health and diet industry that it supports. Wonder drugs, gyms and diets are all big business on a commercial level and it is far easier to blame an individual for failing to keep to a diet than admitting that there may be more to it. Despite the plaudits and recognition given to recent theoretical advances1, it is interesting to note that European scientists including Gustav von Bergmann suggested that the cause of obesity was hormonal in the early 1900s. But for the onset of WWI and WWII prevented this idea from reaching mass acceptance we could be significant steps further forward in our understanding of obesity. (Taubes, 2012) In this essay I will explore biological theories of obesity and suggest that genetics, hormones and physiology play at least as significant a role as diet (food intake) in the causes of obesity. It has been suggested that of all the contributing factors to obesity the single most influential is genetic inheritance. Our genes play an important role in setting our met