The Contribution of Health Psychology in Explaining Obesity and Eating Behavior - Literature review Example

The Contribution of Health Psychology in Explaining Obesity and Eating Behavior Introduction Health psychology is a relatively new concept that seeks to help us understand how psychological, behavioral, social and biological factors influence health in people (MacDonald 2013). Health psychology focuses on encouraging health promotion practices as well as the treatment and prevention of illness. Jane Ogden’s definition of health psychology falls in line with the common overlook of the concept. She defines health psychology as a recent development in the task of incorporating psychology in the comprehension of health. According to Ogden (2012) health psychology challenges the difference existing between the mind and body by defining a role for which the mind plays in the treatment and cause of illnesses. The biopsychosocial design is fundamental notion behind health psychology. The concept presents the argument that health and ailments are the implications of a blend of social, psychological and biological elements. Psychological factors consist of personality features, lifestyles and anxiety levels. Biological determinants are composed of genetic conditions and personality traits passed down to offspring whereas social factors constitute cultural beliefs, family ties and other support systems (Janowski & Steuden 2009, p. 11-12). The roots of health psychology are based on the belief that each individual is entitled to proper psychological and medical care. Ogden frames health psychology in the same light as was used in the biomedical model. In this scope, she uses two fundamental questions to show that health psychology applies in our understanding of health and ailments. The first question gives focus on the question of what leads to illnesses while the second asks who exactly bears the responsibility of the occurrence of diseases (Ogden 2012, p. 6). In looking at the feasibility of health psychology on our understanding of health, it becomes important to delve into the social, biological and psychological perspectives of these questions with regards to the aspect of obesity and eating habits as our health conditions. This essay, therefore, seeks to analyze the contribution of the health psychology notion in our understanding of obesity and eating habits in individuals. Obesity and Eating Behavior The World Health Organization (WHO) defines obesity as an irregular or immoderate accumulation of fat within the body that may threaten the health of individuals. The prevalence of obesity and overweight has become a serious global crisis worthy of the attention of governments as well as the greater international community. The WHO reports that in 2013, about 42 million children aged below five years suffered from obesity. With more than three million deaths being attributed to overweight and obesity each year, this huge number in children alone presents a serious concern. In fact, obesity and overweight are considered to be the cause of more deaths as compared to emaciation and as a result, a lot of research and resources have been channeled towards understanding the cause and prevention of obesity (World Health Organization n.d.). For long periods, the eating patterns of individuals have been thought to have considerable implications on their weight (Heshmat 2011, p.1). One of the key factors that are thought to influence the relationship between eating patterns and weight is an individual’s mental status. Stress, for instance, is considered to influence the eating habits of people and this aspect has been proven in studies conducted on both animal and human test subjects (Ogden 2012, p.313). Stress appears to have two distinct effects on human eating behaviors leading to under-eating and over-eating in some instances. Indeed, stress-induced food intake is considered to be one of the fundamental causative agents of obesity. In a cross-sectional study involving more than twelve thousand subjects, greater perceived stress was actively linked with a greater fat diet. It was seen that individuals facing situations of more perceived workload or stress report significantly increased their fat and energy intakes (Torres & Nowson 2007, p. 889-890). It has also been noted that eating behavior can be linked with obesity with regards to the type of food being consumed. In the United States, the swift increase in the number of cases of obesity and related ailments since the 1970s has been closely associated with the equally rapid rise in the number of fast food joints throughout the country over the same period. Fast foods, often referred to as junk food, are considered to have significantly high fat levels and their continuous intake is, therefore, considered unhealthy. The preference by most Americans to eat fast foods, which is considered synonymous to the American way of living, is one eating habit that has contributed towards the prevalence of obesity in America. A study was conducted in California whereby researchers sought to investigate the effect of situating fast-food restaurant near schools. It was discovered that schools with fast food restaurants within their vicinity recorded higher cases of obesity and related illnesses (Currie et al. 2009, p. 1). The fundamental question posed within the healthcare sector in the fight against obesity and unhealthy eating habits therefore realign to the questions posed in Ogden’s Health Psychology as to what causes obesity and who is responsible for it? The Contribution of Health Psychology in Understanding Obesity and Eating Habits In looking to explain the contributing factors in all health related issues, Health psychology as highlighted in Ogden’s book looks at social, biological, behavioral and psychological factors. The same, therefore, applies to obesity and overweight issues as well as people’s eating habits. To most individuals, health simply infers to physical wellbeing or quick recovery from illnesses and as such, they give very little consideration to the contribution of psychological and social aspects towards health. Health psychologists argue that such assumptions fall short in explaining unique aspects such as why women live longer that their male counterparts in most countries except in those whereby their access to healthcare facilities is limited or if at all praying or attending to spiritual needs bears ant influence on a person’s health (Taylor 2009, p.4). Biological Perspective As mentioned earlier, biological determinants that contribute towards obesity and irregular eating traits consist of those that are passed down or embedded in personal traits. Most people believe that obesity is as a result of personal choices and a lack of exercise despite the fact that physicians have for more than a century proposed that some occurrences of obesity are as a result of innate biological processes or hereditary factors. In the early 1900s, Carl Von Noorden, a German pathologist proposed that there are two distinct types of obesity; endogenous and exogenous. The latter form accounted for most occurrences of obesity that are triggered by external factors while the former was caused by certain thyroid disorders or hypometabolism. Despite numerous critical reviews of the notion of endogenous and exogenous obesity, it was widely agreed that a lack of exercise or dietary excess couldn’t account for all the cases of obesity. However, the hypometabolic argument would be dispelled afeter it was determined that the metabolic rates of obese individuals were still normal (Jou 2014, para. 3-4). In 1986, Albert Stunkard and several colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study in which they observed adopted children had body-mass indexes that closely resembled that of their biological parents, which they obtained from records, compared to that of their surrogate parents despite sharing the same environment with the surrogates. The study of modern day molecular genetics, through molecular research, continues to offer proof to the innateness of obesity and the influence of biological factors on eating patterns. Researchers have identified gene variants and mutations such as the DYRK1B in the fat-mass gene that reinforces the ideology of inherited factors that influence obesity (Jou 2014, para. 9). Studies involving food preference, genetics of taste and pathological eating patterns have also revealed that our eating patterns are subject to biological factors. A deletion of certain regions in chromosome 15 results in the Prader Willi syndrome that is characterized by hypotonia and poor eating habits especially in children. Certain hereditary conditions such as diabetes also influence our eating habits by limiting the type of food intake (Grimm & Steinle 2011, para. 4). Furthermore, nutritional needs are seen to vary with age meaning that people’s eating patterns also vary with age (Snooks 2009, p. 117). Social Perspective In most Low and middle income countries, body weight and socioeconomic status are positively linked. In stark contrast, weight and socioeconomic position tend to be inversely proportional in high-income nations such as the United States. However, certain demographic groups within these high-income nations display obesity patterns that are similar to those of lower income status leading us to believe that there exist other social processes at play. Some of the social factors that influence the occurrence obesity as well as eating habits as highlighted in health psychology include urbanization, cultural beliefs and social units. Urbanization is linked to factors such as access to the internet and television, irregular working and sleeping hours and increased pollution levels. Having short sleep periods has been closely associated with weight gain whereas irregular working hours also influence the eating patterns of individuals who may have less time to prepare healthy meals and rather opt for fast foods. The availability of television and internet services within urbanized areas also contributes towards weight gain and influence eating habits. This coupled with the dense population in urban areas as well as higher crime rates mean that people are less inclined to be involved in outdoor recreational activities. Simple benefits of physical exercises such as walking and cycling, on weight have been observed, with more pronounced effects being evident where lifestyle changes happen together with dietary interventions. Diets available in urban setting also differ from those in rural areas. Processed foods as well as fast foods have been closely linked with weight gain (Malik, Willett & Hu 2012, p. 5-6). Culture influences body weight just as much as industrialization. For instance, ever since the mid twentieth century, the “very thin” ideology of a pretty woman has dictated the eating patterns of many women on a global scale. Studies conducted in London involving native Zulu men from South Africa, London migrants of Zulu origin and Anglo Londoners in rating grey-scale frontal pictures of women with pre-determined body mass indexes (BMI) with regards to health and attractiveness revealed that most of the native Zulu participants considered women with higher BMIs to be healthier and more attractive as compared to Zulu migrants and Anglo-Londoners. Anglo Londoners considered women with a lower BMI to be more attractive whereas migrant Zulus were moderately placed in their choice of attractive and healthy women. This ideal body image aspect was seen to vary with culture. Further investigations revealed that the women from these three groups strived to live up to these ideal body types. In this way, cultural beliefs are seen to dictate body weight and eating habits (Brewis 2011, p 89). Psychological Perspective Ogden emphasizes on the effect of stress on eating behavior and other health disorders including Obesity (Ogden 2012, p.313). Stress is considered to inhibit the natural homeostasis of any organism. As a result, organisms take up certain physiological stress reactions to counter the equilibrium that is lost as a result of the stressor. These reactions are characterized by severe behavioral and somatic adaptations. Subsequent to the occurrence of a stressful event, a corticotrophin-releasing-hormone (CRH)-induced repression of food intake follows in which the body’s need to locate and consume food is less prioritized as compared to the need to take flight, fight or go into a withdrawn state so that the stressful incident can be dealt with. This may be later followed by a glucocorticoid-mediated invigoration of hunger as well as eating behavior (Sominsky & Spencer 2014, para. 1). Where the victim is undergoing continuous psychological stress, regularly elevated glucocorticoids may result in chronically triggered eating patterns as well as an excessive increase in weight. To be more specific, psychological stress can alleviate the urge to increase the intake of high calorie “appetizing” meals as an effect of its action in the central reward pathways. Stimulation of this circuitry may also lead to an interaction with the body’s HPA axis in order to regulate its further activation meaning that stress can encourage uncontrolled eating habits which in turn suppresses the feeling of stress to an individual (Foster et al. 2009, para. 2). In this manner, the mental or physiological status of an individual is seen to influence their eating habits and the likelihood of occurrence of obesity. Conclusion Perhaps the most appropriate way by which we can fully comprehend how well health psychology has contributed to our understanding of obesity, eating behaviors and other health issues is by contrasting it with the conventional biomedical concept that governed the thinking of most health practitioners prior to the conceptualization of health psychology. One of the fundamental strong points of health psychology’s biopsychosocial notion as compared to the biomedical model is that it emphasizes the importance of psychological, social and biological factors as vital determinants of health and illness. In this sense, it eliminates the reductionistic phenomenon of the biomedical model that reduces illnesses to simplistic processes (Janowski & Steuden 2009, p. 12). Secondly, the biopsychosocial model is a multiple-factor model that looks at illnesses from various perspectives unlike the single-factor biomedical model. Another advantage of health psychology over the biomedical model is that it eliminated the mind and body dualism and considers illness, health and medical care as interrelated processes that consist of interacting alterations that affect individuals from within as well as from the outside (Taylor 2009, p. 6-7). Considering all these factors, health psychology is a useful and holistic concept that helps practitioners have a better understanding of the causative forces behind most health issues. References Brewis, A 2011, Obesity cultural and biocultural perspectives. N.J: Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick. Currie, J, DellaVigna, S, Moretti, E & Pathania, V 2009, The Effect of Fast Food Restaurants on Obesity, Available from: http://eml.berkeley.edu/~sdellavi/wp/fastfoodJan09.pdf [27 December 2014] Foster, MT, Warne, JP, Ginsberg, AB, Horneman, HF, Pecoraro, NC, Akana, SF, et al. 2009, ‘Palatable foods, stress, and energy stores sculpt corticotropin-releasing factor, adrenocorticotropin, and corticosterone concentrations after restraint’, Endocrinology 150 2325–2333 10.1210/en.2008-1426 Grimm, ER & Steinle, NI 2011, Genetics of Eating Behavior: Established and Emerging Concepts. Nutrition Reviews, 69(1), 52–60. doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2010.00361.x Heshmat, S 2011, Eating behavior and obesity. Springer Pub. Co., New York. Janowski, K & Steuden, S 2009, Biopsychosocial aspects of health and disease, Centrum Psychoedukacji i Pomocy Psychologicznej, Lublin. Jou, C 2014, ‘The biology and genetics of obesity — a century of inquiries’, The New England Journal of Medicine, Available from: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1400613#t=article [27 December 2014] MacDonald, C 2013, ‘Health Psychology Center Presents: What is Health Psychology?’ date retrieved 27 December 2014, http://healthpsychology.org/what-is-health-psychology/ Malik, VS, Willett, WC. & Hu, FB 2012, ‘Global obesity: trends, risk factors and policy implications’, Nature Reviews, Endocrinol. doi:10.1038/nrendo.2012.199 Ogden, J 2012, Health psychology. McGraw-Hill, London Snooks, MK 2009, Health Psychology: Biological, Psychological, and Sociocultural Perspectives, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Massachusetts. Sominsky, L & Spencer, SJ 2014, ‘Eating behavior and stress: a pathway to obesity’, Front. Psychol. 5:434. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00434 Taylor, S 2009, Health psychology, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Boston. Torres, S & Nowson, C 2007, Relationship between stress, eating behavior and obesity, Nutrition, vol. 23, no. 11-12, pp. 887-894. World Health Organization n.d., Obesity and overweight. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/ [27 December 2014] Read More