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Obesity Myths

Introduction

The rate of obesity in the U.S. has been on a steady rise from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s when the rates suddenly began rising drastically. Many parents as well as adolescent teenagers do not understand the term obesity and presume as being fat or overweight. Frankly, obesity is a condition that has caused the majority of heart-related as well as kidney related diseases among others (Rudolph & Hilbert). This condition is not only limited to first world countries but is also fast developing such as Saudi Arabia. Regardless of a nationwide study that ‘was conducted, the government appreciated the severity of the health problem when it was identified that over 35% of the American population was obese (Richard Arsenault, Cates, & Muth).

This would mean that the government would have to invest more in the healthcare sector to create control measures limiting the chronic effects of obesity such as heart and kidney diseases among others. When the views of the public are included, the majority operated on the assumption that obese people are in their current state at their own will. From the analysis of the comments and data collected, it was apparent that the majority of the population were not as impacted by the health crisis due to a singular reason. The majority believed in the myth that obesity is as a result of a lack of self-control (“Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity”). This myth has resulted in the majority of obese people either having depression or confidence issues. Research into the myth resulted in the following paper which was aimed at debunking the myth and identifying the scientific facts relating to this condition.

Myth

The myth though unfounded has negative effects to the obese community as it has been linked with depression and in some cases resulting in suicides. The research identified that people with obesity have a 27% higher chance of becoming depresses compared to other individuals (Gonzalez-Campoy). This is mainly due to self-image, with myths such as that of lack of self-control, they have the overall effect of lowering self-esteem, and preference of social isolation. Obese individuals also experience exclusion, stereotyping as demonstrated by the myth and discrimination (Rudolph & Hilbert). This is just some of the negative effects of the myth as identified by non-traditional research techniques such as blogs and social media networks (Gonzalez-Campoy).

Furthermore, the myth brings about a new dynamic to depression and obesity as it was identified in a government study that individuals who are ridiculed for slightly having extra weight compared to their peers have a higher probability of becoming obese in the years that follow (Richardson et al.). This is especially common among teenagers who tend to fit in with their peers, but a singular factor can make them get secluded resulting in depression. The overall outcome would be eating then weight gain and then eventually becoming overweight.

There are several blogs, government and health organization websites that participate in the healthy foods industry. But in the majority of them, they agree that advising on healthy eating habits is just a short term solution. It is a fact that the personalities of human being vary greatly (Gonzalez-Campoy). With reference to self-control, the same can be applied as there are people with both poor and superb self-control compared to others. Overall, it is vital to appreciate the distinct behaviors that lead people to obesity. By comparing these factors, they can be used to identify that the lack of self-control myth is false. The first is emotional eating; this is when people have the urge to eat even though they do not experience the sensation of hunger (García-Toro et al.). Rather the consumption of food is used as mitigation to the emotional problems being experienced. In other words, by eating the individual relives stress, tension anger, vexations or a form of distraction. The second is external eating whereby individuals tend to eat more when the food presented is not only alluring by looks but also smell and taste. The third and final restrained eating, to some perspective it is similar to external eating, but they consciously prefer eating less to control their body weight or an attempt to lose the extra weight (García-Toro et al.).

Conclusion

From the elaboration of the various behaviors in eating it can be assumed that emotional and external eaters have a higher probability of being obese. Additionally, the increased production of cheap and unhealthy food stuff in the country has only worsened the situation. As for restrained eaters, the amount of restraining is the main determinant on the weight loss rate. Overall, from this simple analysis, it is true that personality plays a critical role in obesity. The myth of self-control cannot be applied as there are people with outstanding self-control but are still obese. Moreover, it was identified that obese people are more susceptible to negative emotional states thereby resulting in eating to overcome the stresses. This simple analysis of personality was sufficient to demonstrate that obesity is not controlled by self-control but rather a state of mind.

Works Cited

García-Toro, M., et al. "Obesity, metabolic syndrome and Mediterranean diet: Impact on depression outcome." Journal of Affective Disorders 194 (2016): 105-108.

Gonzalez-Campoy, J. Michael. "Obesity In America: A Growing Concern". Endocrineweb, 2019, https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/obesity/obesity-america-growing-concern. Accessed 12 Mar 2019.

Richardson, Andrea S., et al. "Perceived stress, unhealthy eating behaviors, and severe obesity in low-income women." Nutrition journal 14.1 (2015): 122.

Rudolph, A, and A Hilbert. "The Effects of Obesity -Related Health Messages on Explicit And Implicit Weight Bias." Frontiers In Psychology (2017): Vol 7, 2064.

"Nutrition, Physical Activity, And Obesity". Healthypeople.Gov, 2019, https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Nutrition-Physical-Activity-and-Obesity