Two out of every three adults in America are obese (National Institute on Health). The CDC predicts that this will continue to climb each year. The graph presented below shows the steady increase in obesity rates over the past few decades.
There are many factors that contribute to this epidemic in America. In looking at the reasons from the perspective of an applied psychology studying health psychology, one must start by examining the psychological influences of obesity (Schneider et. al.). In my opinion, the best model to use when investigating this issue is the biopsychosocial model (Schneider et. al.). The obesity epidemic in this country can be attributed to biological factors such as genetics, psychological factors such as addiction and self-esteem, and social factors such as societal pressure and stress (Schneider et. al.).
According to the NIH, obesity is a result of an imbalance in energy within the body. The caloric energy being eaten is more than the caloric energy being expended. The American lifestyle is fast-paced, busy, and typically has many time restraints. In today’s culture, convenience is more often preferred than a focus on health. Short term goals tend to be focused on more often than long term consequences. The average American would rather pick up fast food three nights per week because it is the quickest and easiest way to feed a family on the go, while the long term results of all of that fast food is an after-thought. At the same time, the average busy American finds little or no time to exercise due to the constant responsibilities of having a family with two working parents.
Two of reasons for the increase in obesity over the last few decades presented by Public Health I found the most interesting are as follows: increase in portion sizes and diet controversy. Over the years, portion sizes have increased all over the country. Super-size portions became available at fast food restaurants. There are money saving deals if you buy more than one sandwich or more than one meal. Some fast food chains offer small, medium, and large meals. Even an increase in cup size contributes to an increase in calories being consumed.
Dieting has become a household term in American. A diet in the dictionary refers to the habitual nourishment an individual provides the body (merriam-webster). Most people in today’s culture however, think of diet as a method of losing body weight. I wonder how a child would define the word diet if asked. The largest problem, in my opinion, is this misconception of the word diet. There are so many weight loss technique’s available to the consumer, it can be overwhelming. Instead of referring to ones efforts to lose weight as “dieting”, perhaps saying that “I am focusing on a healthy lifestyle” will help reform the misconception of diets. All of these fad diets that are advertised to entice quick results do more harm than good when it comes to the obesity problem in America. Most people that are successful on these methods end up gaining weight back. Weight is not necessarily the issue. Instead, it is health. Focus on proper nutrition should be the primary focus when trying to get Americans back on a healthy track. The only way to correct this epidemic is for Americans to make a conscious effort to make better choices toward a healthier lifestyle.
Sources
Merriam-Webster 2016. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diet
Obesity in America: Why are Americans Obese. Public Health. http://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/obesity/
Overweight and Obesity Statistics. NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Pages/overweight-obesity-statistics.aspx
Schneider, F.W., Gruman, J.A., & Coutts, L.M. (2012) Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Obesity has become such a big controversial topic in Health Psychology. As I see it, obesity calls upon people to change their health behaviors–from eating unhealthy food and large portion sizes to eating healthy food and moderate portion sizes. This is an incredibly hard change to make–even for those who are not obese (I would know)!
According to the Health Belief Model (Janz & Becker, 1984; Rosenstock, 1974), there is a need for people to place value on their health. Then they have to believe that their obesity is a strong causative factor of illness like heart disease, stroke, etc. They also have to see these illnesses as severe and deadly.
I think a lot of people do have these beliefs in place. Where there is a big problem is people’s beliefs about their ability to change their eating behaviors in order to overcome their obesity. A lot of dieters fail to maintain their lost weight, and failing so many times as is common in yo-yo dieting has to affect people’s self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977a), or their belief in their ability to lose weight. I think healthcare providers need to address self-efficacy in particular by providing obese people with doable solutions for weight loss. Easier said than done!
References
Bandura, A. (1977a). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 191–215.
Janz, N. K., & Becker, M. H. (1984). The health belief model: A decade later. Health Education Quarterly, 11, 1–47.
Rosenstock, I. M. (1974). Historical origins of the health belief model. Health Education Monographs, 2, 328–335.
Being a personal trainer I see first hand how much people struggle with their weight. Obesity is linked to so much health risks and it increases a persons risk or cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, diabetes and much more. That is not even going into the way many people feel emotionally when they are obese. I see tons of women who tell me they hate themselves because of how they look. Some are even shy to go out. That is no way to live, they deserve to be happy. However, out society doesn’t help. Instead of finding ways to decrease this epidemic the fast food chains are only expanding. Processed food is everywhere. The weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Yet there are still millions who struggle with their weight everyday. I agree with you with the issue of “diet” . Many people in the U.S play around with that term. But like you mentioned, diet is nourishing the body. It really is a simple solution, eat whole foods, feed your body from what grows on earth. People need to know that there is no magic diet or pill, and there defiantly is no quick fix. Weight loss needs patience and discipline. But the health benefits make it worth to work for a healthy body.
Thank you for your post! I love your idea concerning doing away with the word “diet”–at least in the sense you meant it–and instead focusing on just being healthy. This could go a long way to changing how people think about food, and therefore their behavior. My main worry with diets is that people tend to eliminate an entire food group from their intake, which can also be a problem. The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion’s recommendations for eating healthy would seem to conflict with many of these diets (2013). They have released ten recommendations for healthy eating: 1. “Maximize with nutrient rich foods”, 2. “energize with grains,” 3. “power up with protein,” 4. “mix it up with plant protein foods,” 5. “vary your fruits and vegetable,” 6. “don’t forget dairy,” 7. “balance your meals,” 8. “drink water,” 9. “know how much to eat,” 10. “reach your goals” (“Healthy eating for an active lifestyle,” 2013). This important thing is that social psychologists work on how to best convey this information and actually modify eating behavior. As you mentioned, it can be hard to eat well, if only because it is often time-consuming. But that doesn’t mean that our poor eating habits–or the rise in obesity that comes with them–are set in stone. Some research has suggested that obesity spreads through a community or social group similarly to an infectious disease–the higher the rates of obesity in your social network, the more at risk you are (Leroux, et al., 2013). This suggests that there is room for social interventions. Much like drinking on college campuses, it may be possible for obesity to be fought at the social level. By targeting at-risk communities and changing individuals’ relationship with food (and their ideas about normal and healthy food consumption) healthy eating could also spread, thereby expanding the benefits of each intervention beyond the individual targeted.
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (U.S.). (2013). Healthy eating for an active lifestyle: 10 tips for combining good nutrition and physical activity. Alexandria, Va.: United States Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.
Leroux, J. S., Moore, S., & Dubé, L. (2013). Beyond the “I” in the obesity epidemic: A review of social relational and network interventions on obesity. Journal of Obesity, 2013, 1-10. doi:10.1155/2013/348249