Psychosocial Variables Depression

Obesity has been a life long struggle. While myself and fifty percent of adults in the United States are battling obesity, the psychological effects have become larger than the obesity itself. Not only are we forced to deal with the physical effects of being overweight, I, like others have had to overcome the psychological effects as well. Low self esteem has been a challenge and has ultimately fueled my bout with depression. Although obesity, low self esteem, and depression are three separate issues, they are all linked and are all relevant to not only me, but to millions of Americans.

A common theme among the concerns of today’s American citizens is that of obesity. Obesity, identifiable by abnormal fat accumulation, can be defined in absolute terms by one who has a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30. It is estimated that over 30 percent of American adults are clinically obese. This number has shown a dramatic increase from the 15 percent of American adults suffering from obesity in 1980. Globally, 400 million adults are obese, while predictions place this number at 700 million by 2015. The major issue confronting this adiposity is the health conditions that accompany states of extreme obesity. These include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis among others. The escalating number of obese and

Obesity has been measured or defined in various ways. Many researchers have differing opinions on the origins and effects of obesity. The rapidly increasing rates of obesity are often linked to a high calorie diet and little to no physical activity. Although obesity is seen as a disease that affects a person’s weight, it actually affects a lot more than that. Obesity can affect individuals in both adolescence and adulthood, their families, and the healthcare system. From an outside viewpoint, obesity looks like a disease that careless, inactive people develop. Not always is this the case. Obesity is not a disease that affects solely the weight of a person. To be considered obese, your BMI (body mass index) would have to be 30 or higher. Almost 70 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese. Not only does obesity affect the weight of a person, it can also lead to increased risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep apnea, and many other things. Questions posed on this dreadful disease by many people are on the origin of the disease, the effects and exponential growth of the disease, and the actions that are being taken to help provide a healthier environment for Americans and to establish programs and preventative methods across the country to help fight the ever increasing obesity rate.

Obesity presents numerous health risks, both physical and mental. Obesity has been linked to or is a risk factor for many non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease (including stroke and heart) type two diabetes, many cancers (including breast, colorectal….), musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoarthritis, depression and mental health disorders. Obesity along with all of the alarming health implications have the ability to

Obesity is a growing problem and concern in American households today. However it cannot be narrowed down to one main problem. The most prominent underlying issues are psychological and environmental. These issues in turn create deteriorating health and economic problems degrading one’s self-esteem.

There is scientific proof that obesity is linked to many serious health conditions of our time. Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis [(National Institutes of Health) (Haslam)] are just some of them and were responsible for almost 400,000 deaths in America in 2004 alone (Goldfarb). These conditions even if they do not cause death, are serious enough to significantly decrease the quality of an individual’s life. The aesthetic effects of obesity, on the other hand, are known to cause depression and low self-esteem. Unfortunately, the criteria that most people are judged and evaluated today are based on the stereotypes created by advertisements and lifestyle in general. A thin, fit person has more chances of being likable and preferable than someone who is overweight, in many aspects of everyday life, including the workplace. All these situations create a very negative impact on the mentality of an overweight person.

Obesity is a constantly growing issue in the world, but mostly saturated in the United States. As the amount of people with extreme obesity increase rapidly are increasing as well. People with morbid to severe obesity often experience physical and psychological distress, and limitations with daily life activities. Stigma and the visibility of obesity is a huge issue in our society, media portrayal of obesity and popular culture are also contributors and how obese individuals are viewed.

One of the most important lifestyle factors influencing health outcomes is obesity. Specifically, obesity is widely recognized as a primary cause of poor health outcomes across all socioeconomic and ethnic groups in the US. The CDC reports that “people who are obese, compared to those with a healthy or normal weight, are at increased risk for many serious diseases and health conditions, including… all-causes of death (mortality), high blood pressure (hypertension), type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, certain cancers, and mental illness.” Thus, exploring

Based on background information, a central hypothesis was developed that obesity is an ongoing, gendered and embodied cultural process that has harmful consequences for the obese individual (e.g. Harjunen, 2002&2003). The various social implications of obesity will be explored via interviews (with obese people or former obese people) conducted and the surveys taken of people in the Boston area.

Tons of relevant and recent evidence points to some sort of correlation between obesity and sleeping disorders. All the research articles point to being obese to morbid obesity and severe obesity in both male and female, children are not excluded from sleeping disorders. Children are also not excluded from childhood obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardio vascular disease. Ages range greatly from 9 -60 years old, sleeping disorder targets all ages ranges. Taking this issue, a step further sleeping disorders and obesity even target people from all parts of the world it’s not a domestic epidemic. Many ways exist in eliminating excess weight from patients some are traditional diet plans, life style changes, and of course going the surgical

Specific Aim 1 is to perform a longitudinal study on the population to compare the obese, depressed, and healthy population. This aim will test the hypothesis that Obesity and Depression have a correlational relationship. We will be accomplished by observing the entire population of Birmingham and grouping each individual with regards to age, sex, ethnicity, history of Single Major Depressive Disorder (MDD-S)(determined by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview test (CIDI), Repetitive Major Depressive Disorder (MDD-R)(determined by the CIDI test), Body Mass Index(BMI), Body Fat Percentage(BFP), and dietary habits. We will perform a continuous study with the developments of subject’s

There are more than one billion overweigh adults in the world with at least three hundred of these adults being obese. In North America, obesity has increasingly become one of the most important public health problems (Flegal, Graubard, Williamson, & Gail 2005). With cases of obesity increasing, there has also been more exportation of research being done into the topic. Moreover, social, psychological and biological factors are being investigated to determine aspects that may influence the onset of obesity. This paper will focus on two specific domains of the biopsychosocial model of health with a focus on psychological and social factors that affect obesity.

Multivariate analysis is tested using logistic regression analysis to investigate the association of obesity/overweight with frequent mental distress (FMD) and other covariates such as age, sex, race, employment status, regular exercise, cigarette smoking, general health, physical health, unable to do activities, depressive disorder and diabetes. Each of the independent variables was separately used to predict FMD. This was followed by a multivariable model, where all the variables were simultaneously introduced. Finally, separate multivariable analyses were performed after stratifying for the significant covariates and interaction variables to get parsimonious model. All the independent variables were binary or categorical with two or three categories.

This paper explores the relationship between personality traits and obesity throughout the adult life span. The article examines the relationship between personality and obesity (BMI) and adiposity (waist and hip circumference). We describe how obesity is the second leading controllable cause of death next to smoking. Many variables contribute to the rising percentage of obese individuals such as lack of exercise, unhealthy eating habits, and even genetics; shifts in food quality, food quantity, and availability to healthy foods also plays its part in maintaining weight control. Obesity also leads to numerous health issues like type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and ultimately shortens the human life expectancy.

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.