Can Obesity Affect Your Mental Health?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that by 2020, two-thirds of the global burden of disease will be attributable to diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Philip James, a member of the expert panel and chair of the International Obesity Task Force, warns: "We now know that the biggest global health burden for the world is dietary in origin and is compounded by association with low physical activity levels. This is going to plague us for the next 30 years." In early 2011, WHO reported that there approximately 345 million people worldwide who had a BMI of 30 or more (which is considered obese on the BMI index).

Why are obesity rates increasing?

The main reason obesity is increasing worldwide is a result of changes in diet and physical activity. The "nutrition transition" toward refined food and increased fats play a major role in the increase. Urban areas or cities tend to have a higher amount of obese people then rural areas do. This is mainly due to food being more readily available and often cheaper in urban areas, as well as workers tending to have jobs which are less physically demanding then rural areas.

Obesity could be linked to depression and other mental disorders

As obesity reaches epidemic levels in the US and other first world countries experts need to also look at the idea of weight gain being associated with personal emotional problems. A considerable amount of obese people suffer from depression but they may be caught in a vicious cycle whereby their diet is poor and regular exercise is not achieved, which in turn, increases the weight and their depressive symptoms.

According to the July 2006 Issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, a study was conducted on a group of 9,000 adults and the results indicated that there were approximately 25 per cent more incidences of mood and anxiety disorder in obese patients compared to patients of normal or average weight.

The association of obesity and mental health also continues with other studies which have been conducted. According to Anna Rydén, Researcher in the Health Care Research Unit, at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden, there is a link between obesity and mental illness. The results from the Swedish SOS (Swedish Obese Subjects) study showed that obese patients were more prone to anxiety, impulsive behaviour and irritability before they had undergone gastric surgery or conventional treatments of diet and exercise, then they were after receiving treatment. Previous research has also shown that prolonged stress can lead to both depression and other physical problems such as an increase in blood pressure, insulin resistance and abdominal obesity. Improving obese patients' ability to cope with stress should also be included in the overall weight reduction process.

From the results discussed in this article it is clear that the connection between obesity and mental health issues is an important health issue. The National Obesity Observatory report entitled "Obesity and mental health" which is written by the NHS (National Health Service in the UK), have also indicated this as a public health concern in their March 2011 issue. Gender, severity of obesity, level of education, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and age have all been suggested as potentially important risk factors that could affect the association between obesity and mental health. Women seem to be greater at risk of the association rather than men. One suggestion of women being more susceptible is that more stigma tends to be attached to a woman that is overweight than her male counterpart.

The report also indicated that there are differing opinions as to the age and cause of the association between the two conditions, however, there is strong evidence to suggest that by the time an obese person reaches adolescence, there is an increased risk of low-self esteem and impaired quality of life, particularly in areas such as physical appearance, fitness competency and socialising.

Approaches to dealing with obesity and associated diseases vary widely from country to country. Unfortunately all too often obesity is not always seen as a serious medical condition and tends to be only treated when other diseases have developed as a consequence. Some high-risk patients are given weight loss drugs but these cannot generally be used in the long term due to side affects such as anxiety and hypertension. However, new drugs are currently being tested which should help improve the side effects of taking weight loss medication. Surgical procedures such as gastric bypass, gastroplasty and liposuction are also becoming increasingly popular. However, most experts still believe that a calorie controlled diet and exercise are the best methods for long term weight loss and if we can convey this message to our children, we may just have some hope of tackling obesity and the diseases associated with it.

Until next time,

Nadine Douglas

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The Difference Between the Non-Diet Approach and Traditional Diets

Throughout your weight loss struggles you may have read a lot about eating disorders with the hope that you will read a tidbit that will cure you of weight loss difficulties. You may even read weight loss magazines and try to complete all the tips inside, but eventually you end up right back where you started. Then you end up gaining the weight right back and feeling even worse because you could not successfully complete a few quick and easy tips. Our advice is different than other advice you may have read. It will not dwell on the details of various eating disorders, but rather on how you can take control of your eating. That's right! This article is about learning to love yourself while losing weight naturally.

Before we talk about loving ourselves and losing weight, we must briefly discuss eating disorders. One of the most common eating disorders is called binge eating disorder. The cycle of binge eating begins when we feel pressure from society to be thin. We may want to control our weight through typical dieting, but we can never keep the weight off. When we become upset with ourselves and our abilities, we turn to food in order to feel happiness. This is often when we enter the binge eating cycle.

The binge eating cycle begins with a desire to be thin. You may even try an extreme diet which wreaks havoc on your body. As 95% of diets do not work, you end up gaining the weight back. When this happens you feel upset and turn to food and begin binge eating. Binge eating means eating a large amount of food to gain emotional relief. You then feel upset with your eating habits and begin the process again by finding another diet to try.

Many times when we have an eating disorder, the relief we find from food can outweigh our desire to lose weight. The good news is that it is possible to break free from this cycle of eating. You can stop dieting and still lose weight naturally. You may be wondering how you can free yourself from the struggles of an eating disorder without dieting. You may think that your desire to be thin is causing all of your weight loss struggles. This is simply not true. You struggle because of the relationship you have with food.

Do not focus on losing weight by restricting certain types of food. Instead, focus on eating what your body needs. If you are craving ice cream, then by all means eat ice cream! When you restrict what you can eat, your body will begin to crave that food even more. This will ultimately lead to failure. You you may be wondering how you can lose weight by eating ice cream. Easy! You can lose weight by eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full.

Learn to love yourself and develop a healthy relationship with food. By listening to your body you can begin to make positive changes in your life!

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Diet Soda Myths Exposed So You Can Lose Weight Effectively

 

Myth #1: Diet Sodas Help with Weight Loss

Many people out there drink diet sodas because they believe it is a healthier option and I respect the fact they are trying to lead a more healthy lifestyle. The fact is that all of these products are detrimental to one's health. With that being said it is not the consumer's fault. Soda companies have been lying for years about the so-called benefits of their product.

It is simply a marketing strategy to get a larger consumer base and ultimately more money out of us, the general public.

If you want to lose weight the best thing to drink is water followed by, and there is a vast margin between the two, fruit or vegetable juice. Drinking diet soda is not even on the map in this discussion, it will not aid in weight loss in fact it has been shown in studies to cause health problems not health solutions.

Myth #2: Diet Sodas are Good for You

Recent studies have shown that diet sodas are more likely to cause type two diabetes in people who consume them on a daily basis. This is an awful result for all of us who are trying to be health conscious.

We all know that type two diabetes can lead to type 1 diabetes over time and then you really have a problem because that is a very serious medical condition that can cause a myriad of health problems including shortening a person's lifespan.

Artificial sweeteners, used as an ingredient of these products, is also a major cause for concern.

Myth #3: The Ingredients Used are Better than What is in Regular Soda

This is the biggest one in my opinion and it is simply not true. One of the ingredients used as a substitute for sugar is aspartame. I don't know if you have ever heard of aspartame but if you drink diet sodas you really should educate yourself about this harmful substance.

Aspartame has been known to cause over 80 different medical conditions, some as minor as diarrhea, and even more serious conditions such as epileptic seizures. Most people have some kind of reaction to aspartame the question is to what degree and what are the long-term consequences.

I really hope this article has opened your eyes and raised your awareness about the dangers of diet soda. My hope is that diet sodas become extinct because people stop buying them. This is a serious problem that detracts from the good health of an individual.

Weight loss expert Sam Payne uses the power of information to benefit people who want to lose weight, get fit, or just live a healthier lifestyle. Now he is giving you a chance to check out some of his many strategies. Just go to http://www.how-to-lose-weight-hq.com/Diet-Sodas.html to learn more of his strategies for healthy living. Also check out http://www.how-to-lose-weight-hq.com.

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