Obesity and Eating Disorders: The Two Extreme Eating Behaviors

Overeating has become effortless in today’s society. Fast-food and other restaurants have increased portion sizes so much so that just one meal provides your daily recommended calorie consumption. At a majority of social activities such as family gatherings, holidays and work events, food is often the focal point. Individuals also seek food as a comfort when they are stressed or depressed. (Kluger, 2004)

This paper was prepared for HPE Nutrition 225 (Mindless Eating Book Report) taught by Mr. Ray Poteet

Eating Disorders: Physical and Psychological Damages Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and disordered eating. That's all we see in the bathroom stalls on the seventh floor in Hayes – Healy. What exactly are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and disordered eating? Anorexia, bulimia, and disordered eating are habits that become an eating disorder. There are two sides to understanding the problems of eating disorders. One side is the emotional or psychological side that is affected by eating disorders. The other is the physical side. Eating disorders are harmful and can cause physical and psychological damage to ones body. According to Craig Johnson, Ph.D., and director of the eating disorders program at Laureate Hospital in Tulsa, Oak.

Obesity to some may not be technically a disorder or disease. Although those skeptics may have some excellent points the American Medical Association has officially reviewed and determined obesity to be a disorder. Obesity is simply just excess or extreme amount of body fat. Obesity is one of the most controversial health topics considering the amount of disagreements about it being an official disorder. One of the major disorder criteria’s that obesity meets is that it impairs the human body functions.

Another issue that seems to be prevalent is the distinction between an eating disorder and disordered eating. These two are frequently misunderstood and used out of context. Disordered eating is almost the same thing as an eating disorder with a few differences. Someone who suffers from disordered eating is someone who does the same things as someone who suffers from an actual diagnosed eating disorder but with less frequently. An example of this would be purging after eating an excessive amount of food. Those who suffer from disordered eating often times have a history of depression or anxiety.

This is not to say that the four studies did not provide insight into the relationship that the study participants had with food and that they did not exhibit signs of food addiction, however, the studies are limited in number, and unable to make a conclusive relationship between food addiction and children. There is evidence that food addiction, specifically with children warrants further study. This is in part due to the fact that this is still a theoretical concept (Merlo et al., 2009). Despite the fact that obesity, and more specifically childhood obesity, and metabolic disorders are a population health concern, the lack of information is alarming. This lack of information indicates that a different approach should be taken to when feeding our population. There is evidence of the harmful effects of specific additives used to create hyperpalatable foods yet there does not seem to be enough of an awareness of things like high fructose corn syrup that make up so much of the American diet. There is evidence available on how detrimental obesity is on health and society. Marketing food to children should be reevaluated. Future research on food addiction with children based on changes made from school nutrition programs, or with parental involvement should be considered. In the meantime, rodent models that are considered similar to the way in which humans adapt to drug addictions should be considered more seriously when evaluating the severity of the hyperpalatable food

The second point that I want to discuss is the modeling food addiction on substance dependence. In the table 1 they compared the DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence and the proposed food addiction equivalent. Most of the element that they compared like tolerance, symptoms, social behavior, persistent desire, and others, did not show a convincing evidence to support that there is a food addiction. In other hand, this paper was based on food addiction for obese people we can’t assume I’s food addiction just because the individual is obese. They may be some people that eat more or prefer certain food that they eat regularly or more often but they are not obese. So we cannot just assume that obesity is caused by food

The study took place at lunchtime in the laboratory with a meal consisting of twenty-five food items placed in a buffet style. These food items included grilled chicken, fried chicken, French fries, salads, chocolate bars, ice cream, and bread, along with other

The purpose of this study is to attain more information regarding a phenomenon discovered recently in which obese individuals that do not normally consume non-nutritive sweeteners, such as sucralose, exhibit both a metabolic and hormonal response to the consumption of these types of sweeteners. The study is intended to ascertain information pertaining to the generalizability of this phenomena (i.e., whether most or all individuals with limited exposure to non-nutritive sweeteners exhibit this response) and the mechanism by which this phenomenon occurs. My role in the NNS study began by considering a list of potential participants and removing those who would not qualify. Thus, the data consolidation skills I had developed were extremely helpful over the next two months. After filtering potential participants, my supervisor asked that I perform phone screens of those that passed the initial filtration, a process that has continued. Both this study and the LID study are still in progress and are expected to reach completion in December and June, respectively. As a result, neither study has resulted in published results; however, both studies are in clinical trials and can be found on

Daurice Grossniklaus, Marian O’Brien, Patricia Clark, and Sandra Dunbar 2008 (author and publication year) found that a portion of the “patients” who actively took part in this experiment did not present a nutritionally substantial history of “consumption” (outcome of interest).1 More specifically, only “28.9%” of the people who took part indicated a particularly nutritionally beneficial and significant diet (measurement).1

In today 's society, teenagers desire the stereotypical “perfect body.” Most girls want to be tiny and twig like, just like the models portrayed in the media. Frequently, the desire to become thin becomes an obsession and girls perceive thinness as being an essential trait. The obsession over weight has led to an increasing number of individual 's who have developed eating disorders due to low self-esteem or other related issues. According to a 2002 survey, 1.5% of Canadian women aged 15–24 years have had an eating disorder. Although, children are influenced by numerous external factors that are destroying their bodies, parents play the most significant role in the avoidance of eating disorders. During a child 's life, on no occasion should food be used as a reward or punishment. In order for a child to have a healthy life physically, socially, emotionally and financially parents must be role models as a child is heavily influence by their parents. Factors such as overall appearance, the ability to form a family, anxiety, academic performance, and the ability to financially support oneself are all influenced by the support children receive from their parents. Grocery shopping together, eating together, encouraging new interests and avoiding comments that directly target physical appearance are essential steps parents should consider.

As with any other field, in nutrition and behavior, the concept of validity is largely established through scientific research methods. Among the research strategies employed are experimental and correlational approaches. Correlational studies examine the relationship between variables and are unable to determine causality. For instance, within, the study of nutrition and behavior, a correlational strategy could be used to establish relationships between variables such as sugar intake and activity level. Upon establishing a correlation between 2 variables, a formal hypothesis about the relationship may be developed and can be tested with an experimental design. Experimental approaches therefore “have the

Research conducted by Fisher and Birch (1999) suggested that restriction results in an increased focus and attention on the forbidden or restricted food. This may in turn result in overeating and an increased desire to obtain and eat such food. Further research also suggests that when restriction of food items is lifted, the child is more likely to overeat, even if they are not hungry (Savage, Fisher, & Birch, 2007). Fisher and Birch (1999) conducted a 5 week study investigating the restriction of palatable food (generally food high in fat and or sugar), and its effect on a child’s behavioural response, in regards to food intake and selection. The first study consisted of 31 children aged 3-5years (21 male, 10 females). Children were presented with two neutrally rated foods (apple fruit bar and a peach fruit bar), however one of the food items was restricted by the experimenter, and the other food was easily obtained by participants. Two neutral foods were used to ensure that results were because of food availability rather than how much the child liked the food. During the experiment, the experimenter would allow the children access to the non-restricted food, and the restricted food would be placed out of reach, but in sight, in a glass jar. Positive comments and requests for the restricted food were measured over a 5 week period. The second study consisted of 37 children aged between 3 and 6 years of age. The children took part in 4 unrestricted

Through new research and numerous studies it is becoming clear and more socially-aware that overeating is causing addictive behaviors. Most clinical studies in the past have focused primarily on eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia. In recent years more attention has been focused on the growing number of Americans with obesity which is also considered an eating disorder. In the search for possible originating causes more research has been done in the fields of brain imaging, parallel addiction, chemical malfunction and genetics.

The importance of the research conducted in this study is to strengthen appropriate eating and diminish mealtime behaviours in food-selectivity due to the dangerous affects it places on these individuals. There lays a problematic concern with these types of eating habits since a limited diet can cause malnutrition, dehydration, and other health risks. (Emond, Emmett, Steer, & Golding, 2010) Along with physical factors from a lack of nutrients, children with food selectivity often display behavioural outbursts when asked or prompted to eat foods they’re not interested in. Within the study, they used an ABA approach to change the way the individual looked at foods to increase better eating habits. Unlike most studies where the