by 
Mackenze D
Many Americans have become overly obese within the past years. Scientists are now studying how the brain controls human feeding behavior. The usual assumptions why we intake food etc deals with the hypothalamus in the brain that controls our food intake as well as when we need to eat to maintain body weight. But studies have shown that the hypothalamus is not the only contribution as to why we eat. There are higher brain centers that control our desire and consumption to eat. Dopamine ( a hormone and neurotransmitter that deals with reward-anticipation senses) which contributes to the desire to eat rather than the need to eat leads to humans over eating things that they may not be hungry for but just want to consume. These reward-seeking foods are what may contribute to obesity as well. Two studies were conducted and in the end- it was said that when it comes to eating wanting and needing may not be so separate at all due to the hypothalamus and higher brain centers that may cross paths when a human is thinking about food.
Maybe obesity will regress if most foods packaged now a days are not so high in sugar, sodium, calories etc. and since sugar is sweet and tastes good to most people, a reward-seeking behavior is more likely to happen in these types of foods which i find to be completely true.
Source: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=why-calories-are-delicious&page=2
