The prevalence of overweight and obesity indeveloped countries reaches 33% of the adult population and is increasing in developing countries, especially among urban residents. The highest prevalence in the world is 80% among some Pacific Islanders. This is facilitated by a lifestyle-oriented West, increased energy consumption and reduced levels of physical activity. In general, the higher the socioeconomic and educational status, the lower the obesity among people (Obesity: from science to practice / Ed. Gareth Williams, Gemy Frubeck, 2009).
According to the World OrganizationHealth (De Onis et al., 2007) overweight and obesity combined with low physical activity are leading causes of death around the world (about 5 million deaths in 2000).
If the weight exceeds 20% of the norm, then the excessthe development of adipose tissue is already called obesity. The easiest way to know about the presence of extra pounds is to use the formula: (ideal weight, kg) = (height, cm) - 105. For example, a woman with a height of 165 cm and a body weight of 80 kg is about to start losing weight, because her weight is more on 33% of the calculated value. (80-60) / 60 = 0.33. A lot of overweight and obesity among teenagers due to eating disorders, this problem is also relevant for men. What leads to a set of extra pounds?
Physiological causes
They are mainly attributed to heredity, disease, drug therapy, age, changes in lifestyle and nutrition.
When it comes to heredity in relation toobesity, it should be remembered that only a predisposition to disease is inherited. This means that if eating habits and lifestyle changes, the chances of becoming obese grow. For example, if the father suffers from obesity, then the probability of developing this disease in children is 50%. If the mother is obese, then the children will be overweight with a probability of 60%. Finally, if both father and mother are obese, then in children it will develop with a probability of 80%.
It begs a curious conclusion: full parents themselves need control of nutrition, so they have slender children!
Endocrine diseases and drug therapy cancontribute to the accumulation of excess fatty deposits. In case of need of treatment, be sure to be interested in the side effects of medications, in particular, weight gain. Frequent situations are when a person with a propensity to fullness is prescribed a medicine that facilitates a set of excess weight. Sometimes there is no other way out. The diagnosis and the appointment of a pharmacological drug should be made by a doctor. Find an experienced specialist.
With regard to age-related influences on weight gain,It is known that after 30 years every decade is characterized by a decrease in fat oxidation by 10 g / day. Obesity at the age of 40 - 60 years is found in 3-4 times more often than at the age of 15 - 20 years. In other words, it is already only from the age considerations that it is necessary to regulate one's diet.
It may seem surprising, but fromphysiological causes of heredity, disease, drug therapy, age is only 5% of excess weight, the remaining 95% are associated with eating disorders due to lifestyle changes.
Changes in lifestyle include a decreasethe level of physical activity, marriage, change of residence, caring for a seriously ill person and other stress factors that fundamentally affect the way of life.
Psychological reasons
As a rule, they are associated with emotional influences, behavior, attitude towards themselves and are called "appetite", "eating habits", "food addiction".
If a person repeatedly tried to reduce the excessweight, regularly excessively consumes food with a sense of loss of control, uses a variety of severe dietary restrictions, it can reasonably be expected that he has eating disorders. Excessive food intake is often associated with increased appetite - an irresistible craving for eating certain foods and postpone payment for overeating "for later". And the thought of paying for overeating may go unnoticed, and the change in nutrition to move for an indefinite period. Such eating habits can form a food addiction, when pleasant emotions from food intake compensate for the usual burdens of life. Mentally, a person begins to defend his "new" eating habits. For example, the most common manifestations of appetite, which prevents weight loss, look like this:
- Now a lot of work, then I'll have time to lose weight;
- I have family worries, they can not do without me;
- feasts, birthdays, many troubles;
- all in my family are full;
- after childbirth will not work, because of hormones;
- has always been thin, so I can do it myself;
- My husband likes me like that;
- I myself and so like me;
- it's too expensive for me;
- this is another deception, nothing will help me;
and most importantly ...
- where to get so much willpower?
When such thoughts appear, it will be usefulremember that people who carefully follow the special recommendations for proper nutrition, aimed at reducing weight, achieve results in 75% of cases. By the way, signs of nutritional dependence are also found in people with underweight, and in persons with normal weight approximately equally often, but the prevalence of diagnosis of food dependence is significantly increased among those who are overweight and obese.
Social reasons
Represented by the influence of food traditions, formed in the close environment of man, and the food industry, offering a wide range of products.
Remember any celebratory event with a feast. We can state the fact that the more people consume food at the same time, the higher the risk of overeating at each of them. The same consequences are caused by an increase in the size of portions or the desire to "treat yourself with an additive" of some goodies, switching to meals mainly outside the home, lack of breakfast and "snacks" between meals, maintaining the traditions of nutrition together with fat people. Long adherence to "pure" vegetarianism, a variety of "nutrition programs", fashionable diets can cause a shortage of nutrients right up to the development of serious diseases. At the same time, the person continues to persist, to defend his "system" of views, guided not by food, but by socially significant considerations. In our opinion, proper nutrition, as the basis of life-support of the organism, should depend little on popular public opinion.
At the end of the twentieth century there was a rapid growth of foodindustry, completely new food products, prepared according to special technologies, appeared. These products have a long shelf life, a pleasant consistency and taste, have different stimulating properties. The problem of hunger is solved almost in the whole world - the products are produced in abundance, and they are available to the public. All this became possible due to a change in the chemical composition of food, the appearance of various food additives. Promotes the dissemination of new food products. Advertising is the engine of progress. The impact of advertising has a purpose - to create buyers association of consumption of products with their vital values. It is worth paying attention to the content of food advertising and to note that themes such as family, sex, health, communication, success in life, career, children, personal achievements are most often used. Only for some reason, not actively "meat with vegetables" is actively advertised, but products containing refined sugars, fat and chemical additives, which cause an increase in the desire to consume them.
It is impossible to fight the food industry, but you can use your intelligence to get rid of food dependence, not to become a food "drug addict" and protect your children.
People who struggle with obesity for a long time,often face a helplessness to the problem of losing weight because of the lack of the necessary skills to solve it. There are necessary skills and skills - there is a reduction in excess weight and the preservation of harmony. There are no such skills - it starts slipping from losing weight, shifting it "for later". If we have not been taught from childhood how to cope with problems, then we are now giving them up. To lose weight and stay slim, you need to learn the skills of proper nutrition.
Evseev Stepan Viktorovich, doctor, Ph.D.
</ p>>
