Obesity and Depression - Essay Example

Obesity and Depression Introduction Obesity and depression have become health epidemics globally in the modern era as compared to the past especially among the adolescents and children. For instance, the public health records provide evidence of high number of adolescents with obese as well depression thanks to early diagnosis because of the teasing and fun made to them by their peers. In a survey conducted by NHANES, it was established that between 2001 and 2004, the proportion of 6-10 year olds with obesity or overweight problems had increased from 7% to 17% in the general population. Additionally, in socioeconomically challenged communities, the public health practitioners have also seen an increase in frequency of obesity and depression in modern times as compared to the past because many people become depressed on how to lose weight and avoid being teased and laughed at in their work places or learning institutions. Moreover, both obesity and depression have been identified to be highly allied with several health issues such as hypertension, heart diseases, as well as increased mortality because they carry a peril for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, an association between depression and obesity has been assumed, studied, and linked with the rise of cardiovascular disease as well as disfigurements that are because of quality of life (Nemiary, Shim, Mattox & Holden, 2012). In addition to that, these two health problems often appear in an individual’s life concurrently and they assist in the growth of each other in an individual. In spite of their concurrence, depression and obesity problems are infrequently treated simultaneously; moreover, there are no descriptions of offering such combined treatment (Faulconbridge et al., 2011). For an individual to be obese, it means that he or she has accumulated large amount of fats in his or her body that are not needed therefore causing a health problem in his or her life, and to loss such weigh an individual may end up being depressed as well because of the mistreatment they receive from their peers. This results to an individual not only being obese but also being depressed, hence, the aim of this study is to present the suggestion that conveying an evidence-based behavior treatment for depression before a lifestyle weight loss intercession support both weight loss and depression. Discussion For several years, it has been presumed that the affiliation between obesity to depression in the general population is mostly unintentional, but recent studies have indicated that the outcome of obesity on the growth of depression was stronger in American studies. They emphasized on the likelihood of a biotic connection between overweight, obesity, and depression, whereby obesity perceived as a seditious state. In addition, inflammation has been linked to depression, which is acknowledged as a frantic live occurrence whereby the mind reacts to a comparable manner as it responds to a medical infirmity, resulting to high pro-inflammatory cytokines (Nemiary, Shim, Mattox & Holden, 2012). Obesity and depression can be detected in the early life of a child or an adult because of poor dietary habits or absence of care from their parents and caregivers. For instance, depression can result to either poor eating habits that cause more obesity among children and adults than genetic factors or physical activity this is because when an individual is depressed he or she tends to eat more in order to avoid depression. Causes In order to comprehend the correlation between obesity and depression scholars studied the association between the two conditions and found facts for causal paths from obesity to depression and vice versa. For instance, obese people are expected to develop depression since they perceive themselves being or having deprived health and are disappointed with their appearance, and this incident is particularly identified among womenfolk and those of better socio-economic standing. Depression evidently comes with its own set of menace factors such as suicide, social segregation, drug and alcohol infatuation, and fretfulness. On the other hand, obesity is because of too much calorie intake with the changing dietary habits results to individuals being obese and become depressed on the process of their weight, therefore, whichever appears first between depression and overweight/obesity the result is that the two health problems are very unhealthy combination, and are frequently self-reinforcing combo as well. Some foods that are highly made of sugar and/or fat substances, make individuals feel good, however, that good feeling makes an individual desire to eat more and more, which in turn results to gain of weight that makes them feel bad about themselves. This leads to deeper depression, and more eating habits, that is allied with greater amounts of weight gain, for example, there are extensive percentage of adolescents and children who are both overweight and depressed due to various uncontrolled or unmonitored behavior by the parents or caregivers. Additionally, children are also eating uncontrollably, therefore, they end up eating more frequently and more food than the necessary one required by the body to function normally. Depression may occur because of unhappy moods, tiredness, sense of guiltiness or insignificance, death of loved ones, as well as changes in sleep, appetite, or psychomotor activity while obesity is as a result of excessive fats in an individual body. Therefore, lack of physical activity greatly contributes to obesity among most children and even adults, for instance, currently, many children and adults are not doing exercises that burn excess calories in their bodies instead they spend more time in doing less strenuous activities. Additionally, most children use cars to move from one place to another, even for short distances, instead of walking which would burn the excess calories. As a result, excess calories that are taken in remain in their bodies resulting to them being obese (Lee, Burgerson, Fulton & Spain, 2007); therefore, obesity is linked with socioeconomic drawback and low levels of physical activity, both of which are strong predictors of depression. Sleep related issues are a well-known, and complex to take care of as an attribute of adolescent depression, thus, inadequate sleep or change in the manner in which an individual sleeps is usually connected with depression whereby a number of researches shows that people who do not have adequate are at high risk of being obese because they are depressed. Therefore, inadequate sleep contributes to high chances of an individual being obese as well as developing depression disorder meaning that sleep deprivation has high chances of contributing to both obesity and depression. Solution: Prevention and Treatment Due to increased number of people who are equally depressed and overweight, mounting a behavioral management that confronts both issues concurrently would have a significant public health importance, thus, the rationale of this proposal is to merge treatments for depression and overweight to deal with these co-occurring conditions in one intercession (Spirito, 2010). Obesity may possibly result to a chronic stressful state, which in turn can cause important physiological dysfunction, for example, dysfunction would then influence individuals to be in depressed moods and associated symptoms. Thus, throughout the world, dealing with social health issues often at times presents unique challenges. This requires the help of participants, stakeholders, and community leaders who will ensure the success of the proposed intervention program. Another significant development in dealing with social health care is utilizing evidence-based practices. This is when health practitioners incorporate evidence-based methodology in their research design, which provides a scientific account showing the evidence, the effectiveness, and the success rate of the health program (Mckenzie, Pinger, & Kotechki, 2008); therefore, there are various ways of preventing or treating obesity and depression. The first solution to curb obesity and depression is for individuals to engage in physical activities because physical activities provide assistance in developing and preserving the individual skeletal and muscular systems. Participating in physical fitness frequently is advantageous in influencing one’s weight, muscle building, and reduces the build-up of fatty tissue. To be precise, exercises enhances the general health of an individual as well as curbing the spread of diseases like hypertension among others. Thus, parents should seek medical advice regarding the suitable exercises for their children to prevent stress that is caused by some physical activities among children (CDC, 2011). Secondly, due to the increase of obesity and depression epidemic in the globe, public health agencies are required to enlist public health educators to help in preventing the occurrence of these health problems among students in elementary and high schools. Health agencies aim at changing the current approach of teaching physical education from the traditional sporting activities to activities that are more physically viable. However, the public health practitioners working with communities have discovered that there are no easy solutions or methods to reduce obesity in several communities across the globe, nonetheless, with adolescent obesity; physical activity seems to be the most feasible approach to use. This will allow children and adolescents to develop a self-consciousness of their personal health, enhance their development skills, change their mentality regarding physical fitness, and build confidence in their physical fitness routines (Verduin, Agarwal & Waltman, 2005). Thirdly, health-eating habits should be taught to obese and depressed individuals from all diversity and should be provided with nutritional healthcare as well as health insurance from healthcare providers on how to eat healthy meals and avoid foods that have high amount of calories and fats in their diet. For example, obese individuals should be encouraged to consume more fresh fruits and vegetables and reduce intake of refined and ready-made foods. Likewise, health practitioners, community leaders, and other stakeholders should understand the evidence-based solution about obesity and depression, the implementation of the solution through increasing physical fitness activity within the learning institutions and even extend it to homes (Partners for Prevention, 2012). This is because once they understand the solution; it will be helpful for future programs, because they will take into account the possible measures of reducing obesity at an early stage (Brownson, Fielding, & Maylahn, 2009). Conclusion In conclusion, obesity and depression are epidemics that are highly in the increase in many countries both developed and developing causing great anxiety to health officials and even respective governments who have considered them to be epidemics that need speedy measures curb it in its early stages. For example, during childhood to prevent them from being a chronic hazard among adults when they grow up, therefore, the health officials and various stakeholders are stepping in to intervene through providing programs that are targeted towards the reduction of obesity across the world, additionally, obesity and depression if not addressed, are likely to affect mortality and morbidity. On the other hand, other medical conditions like atherosclerosis, gout, heart diseases, diabetes, and hip fracture among others have been found in obese adults who developed obesity at their childhood stages and correct measures were never taken to prevent them, therefore, improvement in depression is connected with greater weight loss. Moreover, studies of obese as well as slightly depressed individuals treated in behavioural weight loss examinations have shown reasonable weight loss and improvements in indicators of depression. References Brownson, R. C., Fielding, J. E. & Maylahn, C. M. (2009). Evidence-based public health: A fundamental concept for public health practice. Annual Review of Public Health, 30(1), 175–201. CDC (2011). The benefits of physical activity. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/health/index.html Faulconbridge et al. (2011). Treatment of Comorbid Obesity and Major Depressive Disorder: A Prospective Pilot Study for their Combined Treatment. Journal of Obesity,2011, 1-5. Retrieved from http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jobe/2011/870385/ Lee, S., M., Burgerson, C., R., Fulton, J., E., and Spain, C., G. (2007). Physical education and physical activity: Results from the school health policies and programs study 2006. Journal of School Health, 77(8), 435-463. Mckenzie, J. F., Pinger, R. R., & Kotechki, J. E. (2008). An introduction to community health. Sudbury, MA 01776: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC. Nemiary, D. Shim, R. Mattox, G., & Holden, K. (2012). The Relationship between Obesity and Depression Among Adolescents. Psychiatric Annals, 42(8), 305-308. Partners for Prevention (2012). Working with schools to increase physical activity among children and adolescents in physical education classes. Retrieved from http://www.prevent.org/The-Community-Health-Promotion-Handbook/School-Based-Physical-Education.aspx Spirito, A. (2010). Integrated Treatment for Comorbid Depression and Obesity in Adolescents. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier. Retrieved from http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01128764 Verduin, P., Agarwal, S. & Waltman, S. (2005). Solutions to obesity: Perspectives from the food industry. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 82(1), 2595-2615. Read More