Obesity is a multi-factorial, chronic condition and one of the leading causes of morbidity and premature deaths globally. The condition results in the accumulation of fat tissue either because of decreased expenditure or increased intake of calories. Psychosomatic interventions and assessments have been integrated into the multidisciplinary approach of obesity treatment because of the importance of psychological aspects. This is because obese individuals often suffer from psychosocial disorders such as depression and anxiety that makes it difficult for them to control their eating. In most instances, food is considered a coping mechanism during cycles of mood disturbances. On the other hand, obesity is also influenced by biological factors such as genetic predisposition and increased insulin levels. Therefore, the condition is as much a psychological as a biological issue.
Psychological Risk Factors
Despite there not being an exact cause of obesity, causal factors of obesity are associated with biological, environmental, and psychosocial attributes. Psychological factors associated with obesity include personality factors, behavior such as lack of activity and eating, psychological distress such as depression and anxiety, patterns of dysfunctional eating, cultural, socioeconomic or family factors, and substance abuse or alcohol use among others ( Jagielski, Brown, Hosseini-Araghi, Thomas & Taheri, 2014) . People suffering from psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression may experience difficulties in maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, and controlling their consumption of food ( Karasu, 2013) . Individuals with obesity often consume a lot of food as a mechanism of coping, especially when sad, lonely, frustrated or stressed. The comfort eating, to some extent, leads to attenuation of the distressed mood temporarily, but the resulting gain in weight may cause dysphoric moods, because of their inability to control stress. The patterns of using food are particularly applicable in an environment with highly available calorically dense foods, limited physical activities, and a genetic predisposition for obesity.
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Additionally, night eating, overeating, frequent consumption of high calories, and ‘mindless eating’ also contribute to the development of obesity. Binge eating disorder is a major cause of obesity. The condition is characterized by eating abnormal amounts of food, recurrent eating episodes in a discrete period, inability to control the episodes, as well as distress and guilt following the episodes. Worth noting is that factors guiding eating between obese and non-obese individuals significantly vary. Healthy individuals would be guided by satiety and internal sensations of hunger while obese persons rely on external cues such as the presence of appetizing foods and the time of day ( Moskovich, Hunger & Mann, 2014) .
Psychological Impacts of Obesity
The psychological consequences of obesity or being overweight include anxiety and lowered self-esteem. Other serious consequences include depression and eating disorders such as bulimia, binge eating, and anorexia ( Rajan & Menon, 2017) . Unfortunately, society’s perceptions of obesity are negative, and individuals tend to believe that obese people are unmotivated and weak-willed. In turn, the risk of developing anxiety, mood, and substance abuse due to the stigmatization is high ( Harriger & Thompson, 2014) . Moreover, these individuals feel uncomfortable with their bodies due to work-related and interpersonal discriminations. As they continue suffering from body image dissatisfaction, the option of bariatric surgery becomes a reality for them.
Given the severity of the condition, multiple attempts to lose weight by obese individuals would possibly yield unexpected results. In the end, the inability to achieve desired outcomes, in turn, lead to frustrations, hopelessness, and discouragements (Collins & Bentz, 2018). After all, weight loss has both medical and psychological benefits among them being a decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, improved relationships, enhanced self-esteem, mood, and motivation.
Recently, the treatment of obesity has integrated cognitive behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy. Cognition influences behaviors and feelings and must be put into consideration in obesity treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy is utilized to change a patient's negative behaviors of eating while incorporating healthy lifestyle changes. Cognitive therapy interventions include stimulus control, stress management, self-monitoring techniques such as exercise and food journals, problem-solving, social support, and cognitive restructuring (Collins & Bentz, 2018). After all, conditioning habits are important since managing undesirable behaviors eliminates inappropriate environmental and psychological cues and triggers. This means that good mental health strategies lead to more constructive behaviors that would alter unhealthy eating habits that are believed to contribute to obesity.
Without a doubt, the internal mental process of people, in turn, affect the outcome of their behaviors. In this case, environmental factors that impact on individuals’ emotions, beliefs, and goals will affect the development of obesity. Psychologists agree that despite obesity being a biological function, it is largely determined by psychological processes. The social networks of obesity have a greater effect than the biological component of the condition. As a result, effective treatment modalities are those that focus on behavioral aspects rather than medicine. This strongly asserts that obesity is a psychological process than it is a biological issue.
Biological Influences of Obesity
According to Campbell (2016), biological determinants of health contribute to the development of obesity among children. According to the author, fetal overnutrition is a significant contributor and determinant of obesity in early life. At the same time, maternal obesity also influences a child’s weight. Additionally, the rate of insulin production triggers fetal growth and adiposity further invoking permanent changes in body weight. Also, the type of feeding among infants influences how a child would be predisposed to obesity.
In the same regard, MacLean, Blundell, Mennella & Batterham (2017) assert that the biology of humans is composed of neuroendocrine factors that affect hunger and the metabolism of nutrients. The biological regulation is controlled by an interconnected system of organs, hormones, and neural circuits that connect both the brain and the tissues. While the brain sends out signals of energy requirements and eating behaviors, body functions determine how much would be taken in during consumption. Therefore, the functions of both leptin and insulin affect how appetite would be regulated. In the same respect, bile acids in lipid metabolism regulate the energy balance and stimulate microbiota that is found to influence the pathogenesis of obesity and diabetes extensively . The literature review also reveals that chemical senses, smell, and taste affect biological preceptors that determine whether one would accept or reject the food. As a result, dietary patterns are established where embracing the taste of healthy foods is difficult as opposed to unhealthy diets.
On the other hand, humans have genetic information that allows dispossessed characters to be passed down through generations. Key genes such as FTO and MC4R are likely critical in the influence of neural networks in the endocrine and control of body weight. Despite it being unclear about the predisposition of obesity genes, the epigenetic variability forms the basis of obesity to be passed on from parents to their offspring ( MacLean, Blundell, Mennella & Batterham , 2017). The genetic selection, in turn, affects an individual’s ability to self-regulate food intake as well as how the body responds to dietary habits in losing weight. A person’s genotype has been established to affect how diet interventions impact weight loss. That is why certain individuals will lose weight faster than others despite applying the same dietary interventions.
Conclusion
While obesity is largely viewed as a psychological condition, further research reveals that biological factors also influence the development and control of the condition. After all, the treatment of obesity requires a multidisciplinary approach addressing social, psychological, biological, and environmental factors. A multidisciplinary approach is essential in ensuring comprehensive care and best practices and outcomes. In other words, the multidisciplinary approach of care considers both biological and psychological influences in obesity. On the one hand , the psychological aspect of obesity is important in the psychologist's role of psychological assessment before surgery and behavioral treatment of obesity. Given the central role of the brain in the development and management of obesity, psychological factors such as anxiety and depression will be more likely than not induce a person’s habit of overeating. The perception and thoughts of individuals trigger unhealthy eating behaviors as a coping mechanism. Therefore, treatment has to incorporate mental health aspects of an individual in reducing obesity. On the other hand, biological factors such as a predisposition to genetic factors and the influence of insulin affect how the condition manifests itself and how it would be controlled to acceptable levels. Eventually, it remains that while some people have psychological problems that may trigger obesity, others are predisposed to biological influences that also contribute to the development of obesity.
References
Campbell, M. K. (2015). Biological, environmental, and social influences on childhood obesity. Pediatric research , 79 (1-2), 205.
Collins, J., & Bentz, J. (2018). Journal of Lancaster General Health - Behavioral and Psychological Factors in Obesity. Retrieved from http://www.jlgh.org/past-issues/volume-4---issue-4/behavioral-and-psychological-factors-in-obesity.aspx
Harriger, J. A., & Thompson, J. K. (2014). Psychological consequences of obesity: weight bias and body image in overweight and obese youth.
Jagielski, A. C., Brown, A., Hosseini-Araghi, M., Thomas, G. N., & Taheri, S. (2014). The association between adiposity, mental well-being, and quality of life in extreme obesity. PloS one , 9 (3), e92859.
Karasu, S. R. (2013). Of mind and matter: psychological dimensions in obesity. American journal of psychotherapy , 66 (2), 111-128.
MacLean, P. S., Blundell, J. E., Mennella, J. A., & Batterham, R. L. (2017). Biological control of appetite: a daunting complexity. Obesity , 25 , S8-S16.
Moskovich, A., Hunger, J., & Mann, T. (2014). The psychology of obesity. In The Oxford handbook of the social science of obesity .
Rajan, T. M., & Menon, V. (2017). Psychiatric disorders and obesity: A review of association studies. Journal of postgraduate medicine , 63 (3), 182.
