Groupe de Réflexion sur l’Obésité et le Surpoids Association selon la loi de 1901

Obesity Genetics : tendency or fate ? An environment driving us to eat excessively Eating to mask psychological and relational difficulties When weight problems become more complicated because eating disorders are involved, and vice-versa

Overweight and obesity, causes et effects

Obesity

TRUE : One adult in 5 is overweight in France.

— In the US, one adult in 3 is overweight. Excessive weight has become a major issue for the whole western world.
— Overweight is a health risk factor. At the very least, excess fat located in the abdomen (obesity referred to as "androïd" or apple-shaped and more frequent among men,) is harmful from this point of view. But excess fat around the thighs and buttocks (obesity referred to as "gynoïd" or pear-shaped and more frequent among women) does not seem to have the same impact. Androïd obesity favors cardiovascular disorders, hypertension, diabetes and presumably breast, prostate and colon cancers. This type of obesity reduces life expectancy. Moreover, overweight people suffer more frequently from physical discomfort and articular problems.
— Being overweight is a contributor to social exclusion; fat people are regarded as ugly and repulsive, as people lacking will, eager for relationships and intrusive. They are clearly penalized both in their professional lives and in their private lives.


FALSE Overweight people must absolutely lose weight.

— People being moderately overweight (meaning having a
Body Mass Index, or BMI, less or equal to 27 kg/m2) can indeed consider that their body does not correspond to the esthetic standards of our time, but their relative overweight has no impact on their health. Medium obesity (BMI greater than 27,8 for men and 27,9 for women) can have impacts on health and longevity, but it is mostly people with massive obesity (BMI greater than 31,1 for men and 32,3 for women) who suffer biologically from their obesity. For the latter, becoming "medium obese", that is to say a slightly plump individual (without becoming thin for that matter) will considerably improve their health.
— Before starting to lose weight, one should know that this is a difficult undertaking; if 75 % of people on diets do effectively lose weight initially, only 5 to 15% of them remain at this level of weight loss (this was evaluated over a 5 year period).
— In most cases, diets will make a person GAIN some weight in the long term, inasmuch as they are usually followed by a weight rebound that is more or less substantial depending on the intensity of the caloric restriction.
— The restrictions that overweight people impose on themselves in order to lose weight not only fail in making them lose weight, they also frequently lead to the development of eating disorders, loss of self-esteem, nervous breakdown, and personality disorders.

TRUE : One adult in 5 is overweight in France.

— In the US, one adult in 3 is overweight. Excessive weight has become a major issue for the whole occidental world.
— Overweight is a health risk factor. At the very least, excess fat located in the abdomen (obesity referred to as "androïd" or apple-shaped and more frequent among men,) is harmful from this point of view. But excess fat around the thighs and buttocks (obesity referred to as "gynoïd" or pear-shaped and more frequent among women) does not seem to have the same impact. Androïd obesity favors cardiovascular disorders, hypertension, diabetes and presumably breast, prostate and colon cancers. This type of obesity reduces life expectancy. Moreover, overweight people suffer more frequently from physical discomfort and articular problems.
— Being overweight is a contributor to social exclusion ; fat people are regarded as ugly and repulsive, as people lacking of will, eager for relationships and intrusive. They are clearly penalized both in their professional lives and in their private lives.


FALSE Overweight people must absolutely lose weight.

TRUE : Some types of obesity are strongly influenced by genetics.

— A child whose parents are obese has a risk of obesity three times higher than a child having two thin parents. When only one parent is obese, the child has a risk of 40 % of becoming obese and if both parents are, the risk becomes 80 % ! It falls down to 10 % if both parents are thin.

— This hereditary predestination to obesity is characterized by an increase of metabolic capacity; the organism manages to build fat with a minimum of food and is able to save it, using it up parsimoniously. It is likely that this genetic characteristic was an advantage for our ancestors; small food consumers, those who benefited greatly from very little, would presumably survive better during famine periods than individuals wasting calories. But during periods of abundance, this high metabolic capacity ends up in an excessive storage of fat.


To learn more about research on obesity genetics: leptin and gene (ob), UCP2 gene, neuropeptid Y, melanocortine and Agouti gene.


FALSE : If we have an unfavorable heredity, being slim and staying slim are impossible.

— Being genetically inclined to gain weight does not mean that we can not be slim and stay like that. It means we will need to pay particular attention to the way we eat, to the calories we burn and to all the situations which could lead us to eat more than necessary.

— Genes express themselves mostly when they interact with the external environment. For instance, in sedentary and over eating conditions, individuals genetically inclined will develop overweight. Among individuals that are predisposed and individuals that are not, the external environment being the same (sedentary and over eating), the genes being different, it is the gene-environment interaction that will produce different effects on genetically different individuals. Although we cannot act on the genes, we do have however full latitude to act on our environment (fight against being sedentary, alimentation, psychological problems, etc.)

An environment driving us to eat excessively

TRUE : It is easy to become fat in an society of overabundance, where a lot of appealing food is easily available.

— An environment full of delicious food produces many temptations. Many of us behave like the newly rich who, after having missed a lot, want “everything now, at once".

— A society which always favors quantity to the detriment of quality, which considers that more is always better, forges a mindset favorable to over consumption.


FALSE : The simplest way to resist temptation, is to completely stop eating some foods which are undoubtedly “too good”.

— Some try to pretend that their favorite food has stopped existing, as if it was in fact a poison. If cakes do not exist or are poisonous, we stop craving them.

— Such a strategy falls apart as soon a we eat a mouthful of food of which we had denied the existence. Then, we eat it even more so.

— It's by "making peace" with one's favorite food, that is to say by becoming capable of eating it depending on the appetite of the moment, that we can escape from the trap of the "everything or nothing" system, of the deprivation-excess cycle. Working on eating behavior is necessary in many cases (see change your way to look at food).

Eating to mask psychological and relational difficulties

TRUE : We can eat excessively due to psychological and emotional difficulties.

— Psychological and relational problems can lead to quantitative and qualitative modifications in the way of eating, and sometimes even unbeknownst to the person, who may not be conscious of this change.

— We also eat excessively to anesthetize, suffocate thoughts, emotions, and painful feelings. Some complain about feeling painfully empty inside, whereas
others (or the same) talk about feeling stuffed. Eating then becomes a way to prevent thinking and to mask problems.

— Eating gives an easy and immediate pleasure, which helps to fight self emptiness, global dissatisfaction, anxiety, and depression.

— Eating is also a way to conceal one’s aggressiveness and violence. Phrases like " I would have eaten him alive " or "I swallowed my rage " are good illustrations of the transfer into the body of inexpressible emotions.

— Psychological and relational problems that were hidden by eating are all the more present when we stop using this system of defense.

— Being slim is to get one's back to the wall; there are no more excuses for not being able to seduce, having a richer personal life, being successful in all ways.



FALSE : A long and detailed psychotherapy is absolutely required to achieve losing weight permanently.

— Psychological help must be adapted to the kind of difficulties that are met. It can be a psychological support, a cognitive behavior therapy of medium duration, a psychotherapy referring to psychoanalysis, to other therapies, or to other schools of thought.

— Most often, losing weight permanently is difficult and requires calling oneself into question more generally than just on the alimentary field. From this point of view, this is also an experience that will enrich one's life.

— Not all overweight people develop eating disorders like bulimia or compulsive eating. But these disorders are frequent, mostly for overweight persons who impose deprivations on themselves or who set in place prohibitions to control their weight.

— Undertaking diets favor cognitive restraint, with loss of eating control which can itself lead to weight gains. This is clearly a vicious circle!

— When eating disorders are present, their treatment is a matter of priority before making any effort to lose weight. In such cases, diet methods are bound to failure and will worsen bulimia and other compulsive behavior.

To learn more about eating disorders