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Emotional Issues

According to Medicalmoment.org obesity is caused by an excessively large amount of body fat or adipose tissues. No doubt overeating is one of the major issues that lead to obesity. However, weight gain or obesity can have a “domino effect” by leading to or causing emotional problems.

Personal frustration from being overweight, peer pressure, not being able to “fit in”, being teased by others and other family issues can cause children to suffer from serious emotional problems. These problems can lead children and even adults to eat “comfort foods” as a way to make up for loneliness, depression, and sadness. This never helps, and only makes the situation worse. Most of these foods we eat during this period are high-calorie food such as chocolate and other sugary foods which will result in weight gain if this eating pattern persists.

Many times this “comfort food” is not a replacement for the regular diet, but is eaten in addition to the regular diet. This is not only overeating but also eating high-calorie food, two of the factors that lead to obesity. The first reaction would be to jump to the conclusion that we would eat less when we are experiencing emotional problems, but in most cases we eat more.

Anxiety Issues

Anxiety can also lead to eating problems either from skipping meals, overeating as a “coping mechanism” or eating mostly high-calorie meals. This also occurs to college students who become overly-anxious about the volume of work that they are required to complete and the pressure that college life creates, especially because they are away from home. This pressure, and changes in eating habits, causes many to gain weight. They stay up long hours at nights completing assignments, or studying, usually eating to stay awake. This is done at a time when the stomach would normally be resting, during asleep. College students who live on campus, usually live on a limited budget, so they eat either what are available in the cafeteria, or eat fast food. Those who live off campus tend to eat mostly fast food rather than preparing healthier meals at home.

Life is a balance of many factors and eating is no different. It is the balancing of calories, diet, physical activities, genetics, metabolism, health, emotions and anxiety issues which adds to the complications. Metabolism rates are higher during the younger years and are one of the factors that children, teens and young adults have in their favor. However, it still requires that they eat healthy and be physically active to maintain a proper weight and build muscles.

The fight against obesity will be a long struggle, and will require educational programs, and a national campaign, involving doctors, nutritionists, and others to help educate parents who can in turn help their children.

Patricia Bardowell has been a professional writer over five years. She writes for Triond.com, Western Examiner, Demand Studios, Newsvine, and commentator with Huffington Post.

She has a wide ranging experience in the financial sector, namely banking, life insurance and real estate. Patricia is also a medical assistant, and worked in the health field for several years.

She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice (2008) and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) (2009), both from Keiser University.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/emotional-and-anxiety-problems-aggravates-the-obesity-epidemic-1659900.html