Overeating has been a major problem in America, “an estimated 60% of adults in the United States and Britain are currently overweight or obsess and they are becoming so at an earlier age than ever before (Davis 929). Overeating is caused by the human’s temptation towards food, alcohol, smoking, and many more. Overeating is a form of social traps in which they pleasure people in the short-term but affect them in the long term in a negative way instead. The choice of a person relates to their want for immediate pleasure in the short term, like eating junk food, or by waiting for the reward of the long term and staying healthy. What are some factors that cause people to overeat in their daily lives? Some factors that might cause overeating are like stress, body shame, and social media and the internet. While there are many factors that influence obesity, there are ways in which we can solve this problem.
Overeating is a major loss of control over what a person’s body is craving. There are many factors that cause obesity to happen, and recently the percentages of obesity have been increasing at a younger age as well. One factor is stress which causes many to keep eating without even realizing to express their feelings and their emotions through food. When someone is stressed, a way of coping with it is by grabbing anything they can find and eat it. Also, body shame is a way that people who do not like the way that they look try to deal with it either by cutting out all food or by overeating. Someone might be angry about the way that they look and not want to be very skinny anymore, for example, so they start eating more and their body is not used to it. Over time, continuing to eat large amounts of food will cause the person to become obese without even realizing. One large factor in what causes obesity is social media and the use of the internet. Many children, teenagers, and adults use the internet daily 24/7, causing them to eat while they are sitting on a desk or in bed on the internet. Using the internet distracts a person from realizing what they are eating and continues to let a person overeat without noticing and repeating this overtime will cause a person to become obese.
Obesity connects to social traps in which we learned in class. Social traps are the involvement of a person in choosing to have the short-term pleasure or waiting long term for the gain of something, according to the textbook (Gruman 354). This idea might not relate to everyone because some might overeat and not become obese while others will eat normally and still gain weight. This is frustrating to people that gain from the slightest things like eating past ten o’clock at night, while others might eat at twelve o’clock at night and not gain anything. This really depends on a person’s body and how it reacts to food. Not wanting to wait for the long term, many eat as much as they want but causing them to end up with some problem in their body like high blood pressure, high levels of sugar, obesity, acne, and many more. Others that wait for the long term are benefited with staying fit and not having to deal with any problem in their body. I experienced a short-term situation in which I was stuffed full after dinner on a Sunday afternoon, and I couldn’t have dessert, so I saved it for later. Still being full, I realized that I did not eat my dessert, but I ended up eating it at twelve o’clock at night even though I was full.
There are many ways that obesity can be solved and minimized in the American culture. One way of minimizing obesity is by eating more healthy food instead of processed food. The easiest thing to cook is processed food in which it would be ready in ten minutes or less. Especially in college, many students don’t take their time in cooking a healthy meal but instead find processed food. Junk food is a major factor of obesity and getting rid of it with health options will help a person see a positive outcome. Another way to minimize overeating is by having a time frame for the time of meals and knowing when you ate the last meal and not eating too late. These ways might be able to help with obesity.
In conclusion, overeating has been a major factor in the American culture caused by many factors like stress, anxiety, body shame and internet use. It is important to realize the effects that obesity can have on a person whether they are young or adults. Overeating relates to social traps in which most of the time aim for the short term instead of the long term. While some might argue that it is a human normal phase in which people fall into this trap, in my opinion there should be ways in which we solve obesity. To find ways to solve overeating, we should strive to find better replacements that will have an increase in human health and weight.
References: Davis, C., Levitan, R. D., Muglia, P., Bewell, C., & Kennedy, J. L. (2004). Decision-Making Deficits and Overeating: A Risk Model for Obesity. Obesity Research, 12(6), 929–935. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2004.113
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE.
Tags: #anxiety, Applied social psychology, body shame, internet, long-term pleasure, obesity, overeating, psych 424, short-term pleasure, social change, social traps, stress
I can agree completely that obesity is a major health issue among the people of USA. Seeing our consumption rate and sizes compared to other countries speaks for itself. For example, a small soda at a Mcdonalds franchise in USA is the same size as a large in some other countries such as UK. I think a lot of it has came from our culture pushing a body image that was nearly unobtainable to reach- and now we are trying to be a ‘love yourself in your body’ world but in reality obesity can cause major health issues as you have mentioned. Everyone in my immediate family is actually overweight and not only overweight, but obese. Two of my family members have done the weight loss surgery but I like to maintain a healthy life to try and not get to that point where theres no return. Ive attached a link in references for those interested to help aid through the process of overeating and things that may be available to do around you instead of creating a habit that is much harder to break than it is to gain.
References:
“How to Stop Overeating: Effective Strategies for Controlling Appetite.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 2021, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325258.
Thank you for your writing on the obesity epidemic in America. I don’t believe this topic gets the attention it deserves when measured to its impact on individuals and society. A relatively new phenomena is the affect technology is having on the obesity in school-age children. Though technology is a broad definition, it primarily includes television, video games, internet, and cell phone usage. Extensive research has found a direct correlation between increased screen time and ill-being in children. (L.D. Rosen, 2015) What is most interesting about research in obesity is we have known for decades how unhealthy eating habits, lack of physical activity, and poor sleep hygiene have led to obesity. What is unique about the rise in technology use is that it has a direct impact on all the negative factors that lead to an increased obesity numbers in all ages. We have seen China in the past two weeks issue a nationwide mandate limiting the weekly use of technology by their children. With the introduction of technological advances came unlimited opportunities in the advancement of information availability, but the unintended consequences and ‘collateral’ damage cannot be ignored. The obese population is the object of widespread prejudice and discrimination that results in a quality of life that is oftentimes subpar. I hope we can follow the science and bring to the arena of public narrative the negative consequences of unrestricted screen time on our society. This conversation can exist beside the constant rhetoric surrounding the great possibilities in the further advancement of such technology.
L.D. Rosen, *. A.-R. (2015). Media and technology use predicts ill-being among children, preteens and teenagers independent of the negative health impacts of exercise and eating habits. Bethesda: PubMed Central.
I also think that the obesity problem is becoming more and more serious and needs to be paid attention to. Although the gradual rise of obesity rate is closely related to various industrial processed high oil and high sugar foods, the increase in obesity rate caused by the fact that everyone has been staying at home and can’t go out for activities in the past two years should not be underestimated, Because people have social needs, when they can’t socialize at home, people often stimulate the production of dopamine by eating all kinds of garbage to make the brain feel happy and relax their mood. Over time, the obesity rate gradually increases. Our main task now is to realize that obesity is very harmful to the body, Instead of feeling lucky, it doesn’t matter.
Reference
Keaton, B. (2020, July 21). Casino design: The sneaky tricks that make you spend more. Casino.org Blog. Retrieved September 16, 2021, from https://www.casino.org/blog/casino-design-psychology/.
I agree with you that obesity is a serious health issue in our country and culture today. While some causes for obesity may be in the types of food people choose and eat today, I think a lot has to do with our mental health and emotional relationship with food. We normalize weight gain especially in certain periods of life such as the freshman fifteen or getting a dad bod. These periods of life give us insight into what might cause weight gain. In college I think it would be because freshman have to learn self control since they aren’t used to having a buffet available for every meal. A new parent gets a “dad bod” from increased stress as well as decreased physical activity since there is not as much time in the day for fitness.
One thing I think our culture has pushed which is unhealthy is celebrating obesity. Feeling positively about your body is important but it is also important to pursue physical health if you want to live a long and healthy life. Lizzo, a popular rap artist, says “Being fat is normal” (BBC, 2020). If by that she means that being fat should not change the way people treat you than yes, being fat should be normal. If she means that being fat is average or should be the standard than I disagree with her.
References:
“Lizzo Says Body Positivity Has Become Too ‘Commercialised’ and ‘Cool’.” BBC News, BBC, 25 Sept. 2020, http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54292412.