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| Via: Conservative Memes |
According to WHO (2020), the state of
Obesity has been defined as –
“Overweight and obesity are defined as
abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a health risk.”
On the other hand, according to NHS (2020) 'obese' is the term that represents a person as overweight, if he/she has a ‘lot of body fat.’ This has been recognised as the most common issue in the population of the UK, where 1 among 5 individuals is detected to be obese (WHO, 2020 a). The scale of determining obesity by NHS (2020, p. 1), in an adult individual, has been noted under the body mass index as –
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| Via: Novo Nordisk (2019) |
The complexities of considering obesity as
either a mental or physical disease is a constant matter of debate among many
scholars. This paper is investigating the research-based declarations to gain insight
into this complexity.
According to OECD (2019, p. 53), multiple
reasons can cause obesity, such as – ‘genetic predisposition and
environmental influences’, referring to both the contexts of mental and
physical possibilities of having obesity. The report further added that due to
‘greater exposure to obesogenic environments’, accompanied by ‘unhealthy
dietary habits and lack of physical activity’ the rise in the weight of the
individual and the attacks of various related diseases get obvious (OECD, 2019,
p. 53). However, this is not explanatory enough to understand whether the causes
are triggered by mental illnesses or any kind of physical traumas. The
arguments in this relation demand a more comprehensive understanding of the causes
and impacts that leads to obesity in human. The nature of the causes and the
impacts must get analysed for the attainment of a clear picture.
For many researchers and medical experts,
obesity is a health condition based on the genetic structure of an individual,
which is responsible for triggering the tendency to eat more than the body
needs. These scholars also stated that many diseases can lead to obesity. These
specified diseases are like – hypothyroidism, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS),
etc. (Biondi, 2010; Legro, 2012; Joham, 2016; Sanyal and Raychaudhuri, 2016;
Behboudi-Gandevani, et al 2017). A detailed study of these medical research
works clarifies that there are diseases like hypothyroidism, which is caused by
thyroid-stimulating hormone (or the TSH), there is every possibility of gaining
weight and leading to an obese physique. However, these scholars also agreed to
the fact that if an obese person gets the influence of hypothyroidism then
obesity can be further enhanced by the body. It has been also established that
with high levels of leptin in the body, there is the possibility of severe
contribution s from hyperthyrotropinemia, which can lead to obesity moreover,
the cases of PCOS are also held for triggering obesity in many individuals. The
PCOS reproductive feature in women is responsible for increasing androgen
production, which leads to disordered gonadotropin secretion. As a result, the
process of gaining weight becomes inevitable. These scholars also stated that
PCOS is also responsible for menstrual irregularity, cases of infertility and
even hirsutism that can lead to obesity in women in a very minimum duration of
time.
On wide-ranged research-based speculation,
Covington (2017) declared that ‘obesity is a chronic disease’. Covington
(2017) refers to the definition of chronic disease by the Centres for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDPHP), which is –
“Chronic diseases are defined broadly as conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both.” CDPHP (2020).
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| Via: van der Valk, et al (2018) |
Valk, et al (2018) derived that stress
plays a very major role in generating conditions of obesity in a human being.
According to these scholars, people with an increased amount of exposure to
glucocorticoid or conditions that creates a sense of sensitivity in the
individual, are more prone to obesity. As per the conceptual model (Figure 2)
by Valk, et al (2018) there is an interplay between the condition of being
obese and the continuity of stress in the human system. Many people are in an
active stress system, which is caused by both perceived features of chronic
stress and an increased count of glucocorticoid by exogenous or endogenous and
are detected to gain weight in a very short duration of time. Van Vuuren, et al
(2019) even noted that instances of suicidal tendencies can even be the cause
for gaining weight. As a whole the mental conditions that are subject to create
trauma in the individual are one of the major causes of obesity. The increase
in the state of depression due to obesity is also very much visible. The
realisation of being judged and having a poor self-image are enough to add more
to the darker side of obesity. Van Vuuren, et al (2019, p. 8) further added
that the instances of ‘victimization and mental health’ are very
closely knitted and can result in the condition of obesity, especially among adolescents.
These are the aspects that lead to the argument of being obese as a result of
health conditions, defy it being the result of mental illness, especially
stress.
From the aforementioned research works, it is evident that the causes of obesity can be both health-related concerns or can be caused by mental illnesses. However, more interestingly, it is also subject to get influenced by the genetic construct of an individual. Apart from being recognised as a chronic disease by some scholars and the result of mental illness by others, there is also another side to this topic of concern. It is the genetically structured framework of an individual that inclines him or her to be obese, without causing any harm to the physical or mental conditions. Herrera and Lindgren (2010) stated that though genes are integrally related to the conditions of obesity under anthropometric measures. This scholar noted that obesity is caused by excess accumulation of body fat. However, based on highly advanced technological ways of detection made over 20 numbers of obesity-susceptibility loci, it has been established that genes are responsible for regulating the tendency to intake more food in an individual and genes are the ones that control the central nervous system and the adipocyte function of the body, leading to an inactive lifestyle. In this context, Thaker (2017) added that though obesity is marked as a very complex phenomenon, its connection with heritable traits that leads to and further influences genetics, metagenomics, and epigenetics, makes it a genetically conditioned physical status. After reviewing 14057 articles, Pinto, et al (2019) noted that obesity and the genetic arrangements in an individual are very much interrelated. These scholars established that genes are definite in adding up to the instance of greater risk of being obese and as this gets further connected to some inactive habits, then the state of obesity turns to get chronical in nature. The modification of genes though can prevent such developments, yet the scholars are yet not firm about the consequences. Though in this field of analysis, scholars like Aiken and Ozanne (2017) suggested the breaking of the intergenerational cycle of obesity, in the current status it is noted to be still in a primitive state of research.
It has been realised that it would
be wrong to consider that obesity is the result of health, mental or even
genetic issues. Many factors lead to obesity and are also subject to get
triggered in different people in various environmental and lifestyle
structures. The most common determinants of obesity can be noted in the
following manner-
Based on this definition, it is very obvious that obesity is a chronic disease. Obesity in an individual not only lasts for more than a year but also is subject to change the entire lifestyle of the person. Along with it since obesity is prone to invite other chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, joint diseases, cancers, etc. (see Figure below), it is also subject to remain under constant medication.
The determinants of obesity as derived by
Robertson, et al (2007) is a matter of ‘Individual Choice’. The complexity of
the matter is integrally connected to various socio-economic and individual
factors that lead to the instance of obesity in a human beings. In this
approach, the physiological factors are identified as high parental,
particularly the weight from the maternal side during pregnancy, genetic
factors, etc. There are also factors related to the intake of food and
beverages by the particular individual, where fast food consumption and higher
consumption of soft drinks are major determinants of obesity. The least concern
of daily physical activities with more watching of television, a sedentary
lifestyle and being in leisurely mode are some major determinants of obesity.
In the case of psychological as well as cultural domains, poor cognitive growth
with lower IQ and behavioural problems, are subject to lead to obesity in
general. As the factors noted above are all connected to mental health in an
individual, it is also a state of being interrelated as a concern from the mental
health condition of the person. Obesity is not only the result of the mental or
physical condition of the individual but a combination of both.
Eventually, it can be concluded that the
state of obesity is an amalgamated status of both mental and health issues. The
contributions made by genes are a major aspect of such a state. Considering
obesity as either a mental or health issue would be a wrong perspective as the
condition develops in different people in different ways. Some people get obese
due to mental illnesses like anxiety and depression, whereas others get it in
the form of chronic diseases. However, in both cases, the role of the genes
remains predominant. Whether a person is mentally suffering or is struggling at
the physical front most of the causes that can lead to obesity are triggered by
the respective genes. Though this is the least explored domain, it is evident
that genes play a major part in generating the tendency of obesity in an
individual. The supportive physical and mental illnesses are just the
foregrounds of gaining weight.
In this frontier, it is also important to
note that all the cases of overweight should not be considered obese. An
overweight person without any physical or mental trauma should not be
considered ill. It is just that his/her genes are supportive of gaining weight,
but not necessarily causing any harm to the mental or physical condition of the
person. However, an overweight person can face external mental pressure from society
or can have other chronic diseases, which can lead to mental or physical
illnesses, but that does not mean that his mental or physical illnesses caused
his obesity.
3 comments:
Great post💯
thank you.
thank you very much
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