Is obesity a mental health problem or a physical illness? What drives people to eat more than they need?

Answer 1

it can be either / or both

there is a lot about this health problem that we do not understand. we do know that it is somewhat heriditary , you have your ancestors to thank .

some people manage feelings through food - stuffing feelings rather than address them.

other people fit more into more into true addictive type behaviors - the current theory is that part of their brain is overstimulated. they are incapabale of just saying NO to food. the drive is too overhwhelming / they high of a food drive and they lose control. they continue the cycle with repeating the behavior and guilt. they realize there are health consequences that are serious yet can't control the behavior. an alcoholic can never touch alcohol. a food addict will always have exposure to his/her drug of choice.

other people just have education deficits - they have not been trained to eat healthy / close to nature. healthy food always costs more than cheap unhealthy food. people are in a hurry / feed children fast food on the go. kids are playing computer games on internet instead of outdoors getting activity. food is a constant reward. we socialize a lot with food. people place a high value on it.

it's an interesting area of reseach that i hope they find more answers to cure.

Answer 2

It has a variety of different causes.

Pretty much everyone in the First World consumes way more calories than they actually need to survive. We aren't evolved for an environment of continual food surplus: our bodies still think we don't know where our next meal is coming from. Some people have higher metabolism than others, and they tend to get fat more easily.

People who overeat often do it because they're self-medicating some personal/mental problem with food, or probably sometimes because they just don't have good self control.

Answer 3

It's more biological. Humans have been able to cultivate more food faster than our bodies have evolved. Stone age humans lived to eat, but we no longer have this problem so we eat to live, however, our bodies still want to eat when we can.

Between your two choices, I'd say it were more mental. Most people are emotional eaters. Food brings a sense of comfort and fullness, giving one a sense of wellbeing.

Another option is ecological. The largest population of obesity is found in impoverished communities. Since fast food is often cheaper than buy and making food yourself this is often the foods they rely on. If you think that one McDonald's meal can have around 1000cals than it makes sense that obesity is common. The average American eats 3200cals/day.

Answer 4

There is no 1 reason why people overeat. A friend of mine was sexually abused as a child, so she overate for comfort. Some parents abuse their children and their kids overeat for the same reason. Some parents also force feed their babies, which can cause them to be obese children and adults. Some people are not taught about proper nutrition from their parents and only eat junk, which only fills them up for a short while, so they end up consuming more calories than they need for the day.

Answer 5

have you considered that obese people might NOT be eating MORE than they need, but just eating the wrong types of food?

if you eat junk food, high in calories and devoid of nutrients, your body is still going to be crying out for nutrients and it's difficult to ignore that - so you eat more and are still not satisfied.

it's not a mental illness.. i think obese people just use that as an excuse to make it out that changing their habits is scarier than it really is.

Answer 6

Both. If they eat too much, it can be due to an anxiety

But you are forgetting the physical metabolic part, people may have an impairment to metabolize the energy they eat, that can happen in hypothyroidism or Cushing.

Answer 7

No personal control. So I guess a mental condition which causes a physical one.