Weight Control and Diet

Description

Alternative Names

Cultural and Emotional Causes

Enough food is produced in the US to supply 3,800 calories every day to each man, woman, and child, far more than any single person needs to sustain life. In a 2002 study, subjects carefully recorded everything they ate and drank and all activities and psychologic factors surrounding the eating events. The people who gained weight ate more and their portions were larger than those who did not. This may be an obvious conclusion, but the public press often plays up biologic factors involved with obesity and overlooks the simple notion: Americans eat too much and exercise too little.

Obesity is dramatically increasing not only in American children and adults, but also in every country that has adopted similar cultural habits. The World Health Organization now considers obesity to be a global epidemic and a public health problem as more nations become "Westernized." In spite of the proven health risks of obesity, the government, insurance companies, and the medical profession spend very little money to counteract the commercial and cultural pressures that are producing millions of overweight people.

Television and Sedentary Habits

Perhaps the primary reason for the dramatic rise in obesity is the sedentary lives led by most Americans, including children and young people. In a 2003 study comparing modern life to the past, labor saving devices had reduced a person's energy expenditure by 111 calories a day--adding up to an extra 11 pounds a year. Half the difference in energy expenditure was due to less walking.

Regular television watching has been singled as the most hazardous pastime. According to a major 2003 study, for every two hours a person spends in front of the TV each day, the risk for obesity increases by 23% and for type 2 diabetes by 14%. In the study, TV watching produced the lowest metabolic rates compared to sewing, playing board games, reading, writing, and driving a car. Just the act of watching TV encourages unhealthy snacks and eating patterns and the advertising on the television compounds the problem by promoting fast foods, cereal, and snack products that are high in salt, fats, and carbohydrates. Even worse, much of these advertisements are directed at children--the most vulnerable group.

Fast Foods and Restaurant Eating

People are not only eating more than they did 20 years ago, but they are replacing home cooking with fast food, dining out, and packaged foods. This behavior, according to studies, place people at higher risk for obesity. Fast foods may be more harmful than restaurant cooking. These foods tend to be served in larger portions and generally contain more calories and unhealthy fats and less ingredients of nutritional value than homemade or restaurant meals. Snack foods and sweet beverages, including juice and soft drinks, are specific culprits in the increasing prevalence of obesity. (Of note: frequent small healthy meals--as opposed to two or three large daily meals--are associated with lower weights.)

Stress

People react differently to chronic stress. Some overeat and gain weight and others stop eating and lose weight. Night-eating has particularly been associated with stress. People who gain weight in response to stress often overeat foods high in sugar, fats, and salt. A 2003 study on rats, in fact, suggested that stress hormones increase the pleasure from eating such so-called "comfort foods". Furthermore, it supported previous research indicating that stress-related eating was associated with the unhealthy accumulation of abdominal fat.