research proposal

Link between Psychological Distress and Obesity

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Link between Psychological Distress and Obesity

There has a significant increase in the number of obese individuals and its epidemic nature is considered a serious social and health concern especially industrialized nations. The leading nation with highest number of obese people is Poland. As a result, pointing out many serious health concerns that serve as natural repercussion of obesity is important from the psychology point of view. Therefore, the following paper focuses on the link between psychological distress and obesity especially among adults. The topic is picked based on several proposals indicating that many adults experiencing constant psychological distress are prone to an early onset of obesity.

The Reason People become Obese

Apart from people living in industrialized nations, individuals often become obese due a complex interaction or combination of psychological and biological factors with social and environmental influences. According to Bourdier et al., (2018), obesity does not occur simply because a person lacks willpower. As such, people with high chances of gaining unhealthy weight involve those with high genetic risks of developing obesity. Secondly, people whose lives are dictated by social environments, or work that encourage inactivity and overeating are likely to develop obesity. Importantly, psychological experiences that form the main focus of the following paper also play a significant in causing obesity highlighted as follows.

The Link between Psychological Experiences and Obesity

Looking at the new study carried out by Bourdier et al., (2018), people with low incomes are more likely to develop obesity because of psychological distress. For instance, psychological distress results in emotional eating cope. Statistically speaking, about half of adults seeking specialist obesity services experience childhood distress or adversity. Focusing on the impact of stress, there is a well-established link between distress and obesity among many adults. For example, Bourdier et al., (2018) affirm that adults’ exposure to chronic stress cause their stress response system to become activated constantly. Major types of chronic stress that many adults experience include family discord, financial insecurity, mental illness, or stress of being around stigmatized groups.

Literature Review

According to Bourdier et al., (2018), people whose stress response system is constantly activated have several consequences that influence their tendency to gain weight. Firstly, they experience reduced activity in prefrontal cortex. Prefrontal cortex controls a person’s decision making and planning. As a result, it makes a person more likely to eat even when he or she is not hungry and thus, has reduced ability to control his or her eating behavior and diet. Additionally, constantly activated response system can cause changes to the balance of hormones. For instance, Bourdier and the rest assert that hormones that regulate appetite can decrease one’s ability to respond to signals that he or she is already full. It results in an increased appetite (abnormal appetite) especially for high sugar foods and those with high fat content.

Considering previous qualitative and quantitative research conducted by; a hundred and twenty participants from different states were selected. They were chosen from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds and they completed questionnaires measuring psychological distress, resilience, and emotional eating. Findings showed that low socioeconomic status is associated with high psychological distress Bourdier et al., (2018). Consequently, high psychological distress is linked with high emotional eating disorder which leads to obesity.

In brief, having established a positive link between psychological distress and obesity among adults, conducting further psychology research can offer sufficient evidence and perspectives. As of main of interest, it is likely to add value in assisting people improve their response to obesity. Importantly, the study on the topic seeks to guide professionals working with people impacted by obesity to consider an approach guided by psychology.

Link between psychological distress and obesity

References

Bourdier, L., Orri, M., Carre, A., Gearhardt, A. N., Romo, L., Dantzer, C., & Berthoz, S. (2018). Are emotionally driven and addictive-like eating behaviors the missing links between psychological distress and greater body weight? Appetite, 120, 536-546.