The prevalence of overweight and obesity in developed countries reaches 33% among adults and is increasing in developing countries, especially among urban residents. The highest prevalence worldwide is 80% among some Pacific islanders. This is facilitated by a West-oriented lifestyle, increased energy consumption and decreased levels of physical activity. In general, the higher the socioeconomic and educational status, the lower the obesity among people (Obesity: from science to practice / Edited by Gareth Williams, Gems Frubek, 2009).
According to a report by the World Health Organization (De Onis et al., 2007), overweight and obesity combined with low physical activity are the leading causes of death worldwide (about 5,000,000 deaths in 2000).
If the weight exceeds 20% of the norm, then the excessive development of adipose tissue is already called obesity. The easiest way to find out about the extra pounds is to use the formula: (ideal weight, kg) = (height, cm) - 105. For example, for a woman with a height of 165 cm and a body weight of 80 kg, it is time to start losing weight, because her weight is more 33% of the calculated value. (80 - 60) / 60 = 0.33. A lot of overweight and obesity among adolescents due to eating disorders, this problem is also relevant for men. What leads to a set of extra pounds?
Physiological reasons
They mainly include heredity, illness, drug therapy, age, lifestyle and nutritional changes.
When it comes to heredity in relation to obesity, it should be remembered that only the predisposition to the disease is inherited. This means that with a violation of nutrition and lifestyle, chances are growing to become obese. For example, if the father is obese, then the probability of developing this disease in children is 50%. If the mother is obese, the children will be overweight with a probability of 60%. Finally, if both father and mother are sick with obesity, then in children it will develop with a probability of 80%.
A curious conclusion suggests itself: full parents themselves need nutrition control so that they have slender children!
Endocrine diseases and drug therapy can contribute to the accumulation of excess body fat. If treatment is necessary, be sure to be interested in the side effects of drugs, in particular weight gain. There are frequent situations when a person with a tendency to overweight is prescribed a medicine that helps to gain excess weight. Sometimes there is simply no other way. The diagnosis and the appointment of a pharmacological preparation should be carried out by a doctor. Find an experienced professional.
As for age-related effects on weight gain, it is known that after 30 years every decade is characterized by a decrease in fat oxidation by 10 g / day. Obesity at the age of 40-60 is found 3-4 times more often than at the age of 15-20. In other words, it is only for reasons of age that you should regulate your diet.
It may seem surprising, but for physiological reasons, heredity, illness, drug therapy, age make up only 5% of excess weight gain, the remaining 95% are associated with eating disorders caused by lifestyle changes.
Changes in lifestyle include a decrease in the level of physical activity, marriage, a change of place of residence, caring for a seriously ill person, and other stressful factors that fundamentally affect the usual way of life.
Psychological reasons
As a rule, they are associated with emotional influences, behavior, attitude to oneself and are called “appetite”, “eating habits”, “food addiction”.
If a person has repeatedly tried to lose weight, regularly consumes excess food with a sense of loss of control, and uses a variety of severe nutritional restrictions, it can reasonably be assumed that he has eating disorders. Excessive food intake is often associated with increased appetite - an irresistible craving for eating certain foods and postponing payment for overeating “for later”. Moreover, thoughts about the cost of overeating can go unnoticed, and a change in nutrition can be postponed indefinitely. Such eating habits can form a food addiction, when pleasant emotions from food consumption compensate for the usual hardships of life. Mentally, a person begins to defend his "new" eating habits. For example, the most common manifestations of appetite that interferes with weight loss look like this:
- Now a lot of work, then still have time to lose weight;
- I have family concerns; without me they cannot;
- feasts, birthdays, a lot of trouble;
- everything in my family is complete;
- after childbirth does not work, due to hormones;
- She was always thin, so I can handle it myself;
- the husband loves me and such;
- I myself like it;
- it's too expensive for me;
- This is another deception, nothing will help me;
and most importantly ...
- where to get so much willpower?
When such thoughts appear, it will be useful to recall that people who carefully observe special recommendations on proper nutrition aimed at weight loss achieve results in 75% of cases. By the way, signs of food dependence are found in individuals with insufficient body weight and in individuals with normal weight approximately equally often, however, the prevalence of diagnosis of food dependence is significantly increased among people who are overweight and obese.
Social reasons
They are represented by the influence of food traditions that have developed in the close environment of a person, and the food industry, offering a wide range of products.
Remember any festive event with a feast. We can state the fact that the more people consume food at the same time, the higher the risk of overeating in each of them. The same consequences are caused by an increase in serving sizes or a desire to “treat yourself to an addition” of some goodies, switching to food mainly outside the home, lack of breakfast and “snacks” between meals, and maintaining nutritional traditions together with overweight people. A long-term commitment to “pure” vegetarianism, various kinds of “nutrition programs”, and fashionable diets can cause a deficiency of nutrients up to the development of serious diseases. At the same time, a person continues to persist, defend “his system” of views, being guided not by food, but by socially significant considerations. In our opinion, proper nutrition, as the basis of the life support of the body, should depend little on popular public opinions.
At the end of the twentieth century, a rapid growth of the food industry was noted, completely new food products prepared using special technologies appeared. These products have a long shelf life, a pleasant texture and taste, have different stimulating properties. The problem of hunger has been solved almost all over the world - products are produced in abundance, and they are available to the population. All this became possible due to a change in the chemical composition of food, the appearance of various food additives. The spread of new food is promoted by advertising. Advertising is the engine of progress. The impact of advertising has the goal of creating an association among consumers of the consumption of products with their life values. It is worth paying attention to the content of food advertising and noting that such topics as family, sex, health, communication, success in life, career, children, personal achievements are most often used. Only for some reason, it’s not advertised “meat with vegetables” that is actively advertised, but products containing refined sugars, fat and chemical additives that cause an increase in desire to consume them.
It is impossible to fight with the food industry, but you can use your intellect to get rid of food addiction, not to become a food "addict" and protect your children.
People who are struggling with excess weight for a long time often face helplessness in front of the problem of losing weight due to the lack of the necessary skills to solve it. There are the necessary skills - there is a reduction in excess weight and maintaining harmony. There are no such skills - it starts breaking away from losing weight, shifting it “for later”. If from childhood we were not taught how to cope with problems, then now we pass before them. To lose weight and maintain harmony, you need to learn proper nutrition skills.
Evseev Stepan Viktorovich, Doctor, MD