Obesity Comes With Psychological Effects Essay

In American culture, the obese body is represented very negatively. One factor that contributes to this negative representation is the abundance of negative reactions that people display towards overweight people. It is a stigma that often taints and belittles the person, leading others to judge the individual negatively, rejecting, hating, or ridiculing him or her. That can often lead the obese person to develop sever psychological problems.

Health-wise, obesity is a problem, no doubt. It can cause diabetes, heart attacks, cholesterol problems, and now it can cause depression. Eating too much sugar leads to diabetes, especially if it runs in the family. Eating too much fat can cause cholesterol to block circulation to your heart, leading you to go into cardiac arrest and most likely die. Depression depends on one’s personality. Obese people see themselves as outcasts, sometimes, and believe that they will never find their significant other.

The unequal treatment for the obese along with the comments consisting of insults and mockery combined together to form a state of mental instability in the obese person. This results in a higher rate of anxiety and depression in the obese. The severity of depression is sometimes so high that it results in suicide attempts. Obese people are generally viewed by the others as the annoyed people. The reason for that is the fact that due to the alienated treatment from the normal people, they are likely to have emotional instability which results in severe mood

Obesity can lead to diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, even some cancers and potentially death. These are all very serious medical issues that need to be addressed. The psychological change would be effects on self-esteem, depression and even face professional and social discrimination. Overweight people may not be hired just based on their weight. If an employer has another candidate for the position that isn’t overweight, that person is more likely to be chosen over an obese person. Obese people can meet the requirements, but due to weight, the individual may not be chosen because the potential employer may think if they can’t control their eating, then they can’t control other behaviors. Society may judge an obese person as messy or not organized but anyone could be messy and disorganized. There are many stereotypes of obese individuals which is part of why depression is common among obese people. Depression is much more than just sadness. A depressed individual may feel tired, worthless, hopeless, and unimportant. Obese people may suffer from insomnia or excessive sleep, and can have recurrent thoughts of suicide or death. Depression greatly affects the individual’s self-esteem and stress levels. Fortunately depression is treatable with antidepressants and therapy. Children may have bullies at school, or even at home, that pick on

Over one-half of all Americans are overweight or obese. If you are overweight or obese, carrying this extra weight puts you at risk for developing many diseases. Women generally have more subcutaneous fat than men, but appear to suffer a greater cardiovascular risk from a given degree of fat than women.

Obesity rates are soaring throughout North America (What Is Obesity?, 2013). With obesity reaching almost epidemic proportions in the United States, and the threat of a global epidemic, we must watch this alarming increase carefully ( Health Risks of Obesity, 2013). Obesity is defined as: "…an excess of adipose tissue…" (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014). The two most common measures of obesity are Body Mass Index (BMI is a ratio of weight to height) and relative weight index, such as percent desirable weight (Body Mass Index , 2013). BMI is the most frequently used measure of obesity as it has a strong correlation with more direct measures of adiposity, such as underwater weighing (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2013). Some

Life deals us with different obstacles we must overcome. Some are psychological, some are physical, the worse are the ones that spiral out of control. The article focuses on the people that suffer from obesity. Written by Gina Kolata for the New York Times, titled Why Do Obese Patients Get Worse Care? Many Doctors Don’t See Past the Fat. I will analyze Human behavior theories and perspective, and what can be done to prevent such stigma towards the obese.

In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous problem. In the last three decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. Obesity effects the individual carrying the extra weight around, of course, but it also affects society as it is left up to the government and other health care facilities to address these issues and treat them. Fast food causes people to become overweight, and there are some effects of being overweight.

Obesity has become a national concern for the many health risks it poses. “More than one-third (36.5%) of U.S adults have obesity” (CDC, Overweight and Obesity Facts). The maintenance of the chronic diseases that result because of obesity impacts the cost on healthcare; “the medical costs of obesity in United States are high. In 2008 dollars, these costs were estimated to be $147 billion” (CDC, Overweight and Obesity Facts). Obesity also takes an emotional toll on the individual as well. There are certain stigmas that come from being obese. People with obesity are victims of negative and hateful actions every day. Research has revealed that, “individuals who experience weight stigmatization have higher rates of depression, anxiety, social isolation, and poorer psychological adjustment.” (Obesity Society, Obesity, Bias, and Stigmatization) The effects of obesity are seen in three areas: health, the societal economy, and the individuals’ emotional well-being.

Obesity is not only a significant issue because of the physical diseases it can provoke, as it can also trigger psychological and emotional problems, as individuals suffering from the malady are probable to have trouble integrating the social order and to be accepted by particular groups.

Childhood obesity is a major nutritional problem that occupies many countries around the world. This nutritional disease has concerned many scientists and parents since this increasing problem often begins in very young age and has various implications on the child life (Anderson, P., & Butcher, K. (2006)) . These consequences might even progress rapidly in adulthood(Guo et al,2000) .This essay will concentrate on the three main effects of child obesity such as: physical, psychological and social effects.It will briefly present and explain about each effect separately.

To start, would you believe that more than one-third of U.S adults are obese? That’s 34.9% or 78.6 million adults. When one hears the word “obesity” thoughts of people – or themselves maybe – that are big, overweight, and unhealthy. More and more people are becoming obese each and every day and as stated earlier in the paper, obesity can affect anyone, man, woman, or child at any age.

Menarche is a sudden, initial encounter of menstruation by a female and said to be a sign of sexual maturation (Ahmed et al., 2016). In a recent study, a reduction in the onset of menarche in females for a period of four years was observed in the West. Factors that have been considered to contribute to early menarche onset includes, dietary intake, socio-economic status, BMI, and physical activity. In the article, Ahmed et al (2016) also mentions that the parents’ level of education and household environment were also determinant factors for menarcheal onset.

Obesity has become an epidemic in our over indulgent North American society. In addition to body image issues, obesity causes significant health issues. Society often views obesity to be a disease when it is actually a sign of a disorder, genetic or environmental. The percentage of our population that is growing overweight is increasing every year, and can become a very serious issue if it is not dealt with urgently. Problems relating to self-confidence, self-consciousness, and isolation can occur as a result.

A study done by Dr. George Reeves (1942) showed that emotional states play an important role in the quality of people’s eating habits. He studies five obese white women. Dr. Reeves concluded that (a) obesity was used at a defense mechanism (b) these patterns were sadistic and masochistic (c) oral satisfaction extended beyond social acceptable forms and (d) obesity was used to simulate a masculine ideal. This study was limited because he had only five cases of women, and they were all the same race and around the same age. Hirsch and Morse (1960) presented a study to relate emotions to obesity and establish correlations between metabolic findings from the obese patients in their study. They brought 74 patients to the Victoria General Hospital Outpatient Obesity Clinic. The patients were given a questionnaire that was oriented around their obesity history. The material from the interview were reviewed for symptoms of emotional distress such as depression, anxiety, delusions, etc. 27 of the 74 patients were judged to have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder after the questionnaire was completed. This study however was unreliable because there was no average weighted people to interview as a control, also the people in the study were unprepared to think abstractly, so the physician guided them throughout the questionnaire, which made the data unreliable. Collyer (1974) backed Reeves (1942) conclusions that women may gain weight as a defense mechanism to protect