Psychological

Factors Related
to Obesity

Kania - Tutor 17
PSYCHOLOGICA
L “RISK
FACTOR” OF
OBESITY
Psychological Disorders:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Eating disorders

Difficult to:
- Control consumption of
food
- Exercising
- Maintain healthy weight
 - Often used as a coping mechanism with
weight problems particularly when sad,
anxious, stressed, lonely, and frustrated.
FOOD
- Perpetual cycle

Mood
Disturbance

Weight Gain Overeating

Genetic &
Environment

- Comfort eating may result in temporary

attenuation of their distressed mood,
Conceptual Models of Appetite Change in Depression
BINGE EATING DISORDER (BED)

CHARACTERISTICS
- Recurrent episodes of eating during a
discrete period of time (at least 2
days a week over a 6 month period);
- Eating quantities of food that are
larger than most people would eat
during a similar amount of time;
- A sense of lack of control during the
episodes; and
- Guilt or distress following the
episodes - Occur in approximately 2% of the
general population
- Between 10% and 25% of the bariatric
population
Night Eating
Syndrome
(NES)
- Excessive nighttime
consumption (> 35% of daily
calories after the evening meal)
- Unhealthy eating patterns
- Occurs in approximately 1% of
- “Morning anorexia,”
the general population and
- Insomnia
- An estimated 5-20% of the
- Distress
bariatric population
Psychosocial Factors
Social determinants of weight gain have been seen with specific life
events including:
- marriage,
- holiday celebrations,
- living in low-income neighborhoods.
 SOCIETY VIEWS
01 Obese => “weak-willed” and
“unmotivated”
PSYCHOLOGICAL
SEQUELAE OF INDIVIDUAL NEGATIVE
VIEWS
02 Low self-esteem, body image
OBESITY dissatisfaction

DISCRIMINATION
20-70% of obese individuals
considering bariatric surgery
03 Interpersonal or work-related
suffer from a current and/or
past psychiatric disorder, of
which Major Depressive PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
Disorder is the most prominent. 04 Disorders of mood, anxiety, and
substance abuse
References
- Behavioral And Psychological Factors In Obesity (
http://www.jlgh.org/JLGH/media/Journal-LGH-Media-Library/Past%2
0Issues/Volume%204%20-%20Issue%204/JLGH_Dec09bentz.pdf
)
- Bray, George - Handbook of Obesity – Volume 2_ Clinical Applications,
Fourth Edition-CRC Press (2014)
- Appetite changes reveal depression subgroups with distinct
endocrine, metabolic, and immune states (
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-018-0093-6#citeas)