Genetics of Energy Intake and Food Preferences
Claude Bouchard in The Genetics of Obesity, 2020
Despite the recognition that eating behavior may play a role in the development of obesity in humans, very little is known about the role of genes in this behavior. Eating behavior is a broad concept that includes the process of ingestion as well as the attitudes, sensations, experiences, motivations, and physiological processes that accompany ingestion itself.24 Although various eating patterns are found among obese subjects, a tendency to eat faster (greater amount of food ingested per unit of time) is generally observed among obese adults24 and children25 compared to leaner controls. In a study comparing obese and nonobese children, Barkeling et al.25 also found that obese children did not slow down their eating rate toward the end of the meal as much as normal-weight children and scored lower than the latter for premeal subjective feelings about desire to eat, hunger, and prospective consumption (amount of food they thought they would eat). These observations suggest that the control of appetite may be defective in obese subjects.
Obesity and Mood Disorders
Susan L. McElroy, David B. Allison, George A. Bray in Obesity and Mental Disorders, 2006
Third, obesity and mood disorders share other similarities. Phenomenologically, each may be characterized by overeating, physical inactivity, weight gain, and in children, by behavioral problems. Obesity is often accompanied by depressive symptoms in persons of all ages. Obesity and mood disorders are each associated with binge eating behavior, as well as bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. General obesity, abdominal obesity, the metabolic syndrome, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder are each associated with elevated morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Like mood disorders, extreme obesity has been characterized by elevated familial mood disorders. Similar biological systems appear to be deranged in both conditions. These include the HPAC axis, the sympathetic nervous system, central monoamine neurotransmitter systems, immune function, and glucose and lipid metabolism. Regarding treatment response, both obesity and depression respond to medications that selectively enhance central serotonin, norepinephrine and/or dopamine function, and to psychological treatments with cognitive behavioral components. Although both conditions may benefit from exercise, they are also each characterized by poor exercise capacity. Moreover, both conditions may respond better to combinations of psychological and pharmacological treatments than to either modality alone.
Introduction
Priyanka Bhatt, Maryam Sadat Miraghajani, Sarvadaman Pathak, Yashwant Pathak in Nutraceuticals for Prenatal, Maternal and Offspring’s Nutritional Health, 2019
We live in a century where our eating behavior has changed from being influenced by biological to psychological and socioeconomic factors. These modifications to the food pattern led to the necessity of nutritional advisory expertise, which was implemented in 1980. During the 1980s, a series of clinical studies revealed a successful nutritional intervention to prevent diseases by following a specific diet (25–27). The probability for both sexes of dying between the ages of 30 and 70 years from CVDs, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases was reduced by 4.1% between 2000 and 2016 (28). However, in most regions, the rate of obesity has increased and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has projected that levels of obesity will increase to 47%, 39%, and 35% in the United States, Mexico, and England, respectively (29). Thus, each country has its own regulatory system for food-based dietary guidelines, which constantly change over time as well as with regard to the needs of each country’s population. In Europe, almost every country has different guidelines for the products eaten, relating to the population’s eating pattern. For example, Greece has a food pyramid based on the Mediterranean diet (30) and the United Kingdom uses the Eat Well Guide (31), which both show the food patterns that are required for a well-balanced and healthy diet. Across Asian countries, such as China (32), food pyramids have also been established.
Psychoform and somatoform dissociation among individuals with eating disorders
Published in Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 2020
Doris Nilsson, Annika Lejonclou, Rolf Holmqvist
Persons with bulimia and anorexia of the binge/purge subtype, in contrast, have been found to score high on both forms of dissociation and particularly on somatoform dissociation [16,19]. Several ways of interpreting the associations between bulimia and dissociative symptoms have been suggested [17,22]. Bulimic behavior may be seen as a way to produce a dissociative state creating a possibility to escape from unwanted experiences. Dissociation seems to fluctuate during the binge eating and purging cycle and may be interpreted as episodically linked to the eating disorder rather than to the general psychopathology [17]. Some studies suggest that negative affects and dissociative experiences – for an example caused by an interpersonal situation – may act as triggers to the binge episodes [22]. The eating behavior provides the person with a concrete and bodily experience of reality. The dissociation and the binge eating would thus have a function for affect regulation [21,22]. These persons seem to have difficulties to distinguish between outer and inner experiences and between physical and emotional reactions. The purging process may be a way of getting back to reality from a dissociative state [15,16].
The Association between Sibship Composition and Child Eating Behaviors
Published in Behavioral Medicine, 2023
Family structure, functioning, and interactions during mealtimes may also influence the development of eating behaviors among children.4,10 A few studies have reported that children growing up in single-parent households may manifest problematic eating behaviors through emotional parenting, maladaptive feeding behaviors, and exposure to excessive stress.4,8,11,12 However, there is limited evidence regarding the effect that siblings may have on shaping eating behaviors among children.13 Some studies reported that having a greater number of siblings is associated with less pickiness among preschoolers and lower appetite restraint among school-age children.4,14 Others have found that older siblings may act as caregivers during mealtimes and encourage their younger siblings to eat.13,15 However, the association of sibship composition with child eating behaviors remains underdeveloped. First, the association between sibship composition and several child eating behavior variables have not been previously examined. These eating behavior variables include emotional overeating, food responsiveness, and the desire to drink. Second, sex of siblings and whether they are older or younger than the child has not been previously considered.
Does hedonic hunger predict eating behavior and body mass in adolescents with overweight or obesity?
Published in Children's Health Care, 2022
Kirandeep Kaur, Chad D. Jensen
Obesity is a complex condition, influenced by genetics, nutrition, physical activity, and environmental factors (Gurnani, Birken, & Hamilton, 2015). Numerous behavioral and psychological factors such as eating behaviors, sensitivity to hedonic cues, hunger salience, and neurologic responses to palatable foods have been shown to impact one’s vulnerability to weight gain (Lipsky et al., 2016). Furthermore, eating behavior in humans is regulated by internal homeostatic processes, environmental cues, and social influences (Cappelleri et al., 2009). Homeostatic eating defines hunger as a biological state of acute energy deprivation that reflects an actual or approaching state of energy deprivation (Lowe & Butryn, 2007). However, homeostatic hunger models have often ignored the environment’s role in predicting one’s propensity to eat (Johnson, 2013).