Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, April).
According to the CDC, obesity refers to the physical state of the body where an individual has a body mass index that exceeds or is equal to 30. It is approximated that there are 78.6 million individuals who are considered to be obese in the United States. The prevalence rate of obesity in all the States has been recorded to be over 20%. Obesity is caused by several lifestyle and hereditary factors that include; dietary practices, physical inactivity, certain medications, and genetic predisposition among others. There are different practices that if implemented is believed to reduce obesity prevalence rates, and the approaches include caloric intake and stress reduction (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).
Obesity has become a health source of concern because of its health implications especially the diseases that it contributes to which include cardiovascular complications and diabetes. The condition has, as such, been of central focus in research studies that are being conducted so as to determine some of the factors that contribute to it and how the condition can be mitigated. The paper below presents a literature review of some of the studies that have been conducted to evaluate the interventions that have been presented to understand obesity (Chambers et al. 2002).
Timlin, M. T., & Pereira, M. A. (2007).
The blowout of obesity pandemic began around the time when breakfast intake dropped. Previous studies conducted have indicated that frequent meal intake does reduce the risk of overweight and obesity as well as chronic diseases due to the mechanisms that are associated with metabolism and energy balance. The article appraises studies conducted to determine the association between frequent food intakes, particularly breakfast, and BMI level. The findings of the analysis established that breakfast intake does reduce the chances of obesity and other related complications although the specific mechanisms of the relationship are yet to be determined.
Christaki, E., Kokkinos, A., Costarelli, V., Alexopoulos, E. C., Chrousos, G. P., & Darviri, C. (2013).
The article presents a study that was conducted to ascertain the effect of stress management on weight loss. Studies indicate that stress and other similar negative emotions cause overeating as a maladaptive reactive behavior. A section of the participants were introduced to stress management program and the control group was not introduced to the stress management group. The findings of the study indicate that significant weight loss was observed in the stress management group as compared to the control group. Stress management is believed to lead to weight reduction and greater dietary constraint (Christaki et al. 2013).
Cho, J. H., Jae, S. Y., Choo, I. H., & Choo, J. (2014).
The article above presents the findings of a cross-sectional study that was conducted to evaluate the association between health-promoting habits, interpersonal care, and perceived stress. The study would then determine if interpersonal care and health-promoting habits are facilitated by stress in women who have abdominal obesity. The study suggests that high levels of interpersonal care and low levels of stress contributed to high levels of health-promoting habits. Interpersonal support and stress should, therefore, be incorporated into weight management interventions (Cho et al. 2014).
Wen, L. M., Orr, N., Millett, C., & Rissel, C. (2006).
This article presents the findings of a study conducted to evaluate the relationship between the mode of transport to work, and obesity. The results indicate that respondents who drove to work did not receive the recommended physical activity as compared to respondents who either walked to cycle to work. The results are statistically significant which suggests that driving to work positively contributes weight gain and obesity. Also, socially and economically challenged respondents were far more likely to be overweight or obese as compared to those who were socially and economically empowered (Wen et al. 2006).
Diggins, A., Woods-Giscombe, C., & Waters, S. (2015)
The aim of this study whose central focus is black females is to observe the relationship between emotional eating, stress, both perceived and conceptualized, and BMI levels. The findings of the study suggest that stress and emotional eating act together to impact the BMI level of the respondents (Diggins et al. 2015).
To conclude, the findings of the studies that were evaluated in this essay indicate that there is a relationship between obesity and breakfast eating, physical activity, stress management, interpersonal care and mode of transport to work.
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, April). Adult Overweight and Obesity. In
Division of nutrition, physical activity, and obesity. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/index.html
Chambers, R., Wakley, G., & Staffordshire University. (2002). Obesity and overweight matters in primary care. Abingdon: Radcliffe Medical Press.
Christaki, E., Kokkinos, A., Costarelli, V., Alexopoulos, E. C., Chrousos, G. P., & Darviri, C.
(2013). Stress management can facilitate weight loss in Greek overweight and obese women: a pilot study. Journal of Human Nutrition And Dietetics: The Official Journal of The British Dietetic Association, 26 Suppl 1132-139. doi:10.1111/jhn.12086
Cho, J. H., Jae, S. Y., Choo, I. H., & Choo, J. (2014). Health-promoting behaviour among
women with abdominal obesity: a conceptual link to social support and perceived stress. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(6), 1381. doi:10.1111/jan.12300
Diggins, A., Woods-Giscombe, C., & Waters, S. (2015). The association of perceived stress, contextualized stress, and emotional eating with body mass index in college-aged Black women Eating Behaviors 19 (2015) 188192.Timlin, M. T., & Pereira, M. A. (2007). Breakfast Frequency and Quality in the Etiology of Adult Obesity and Chronic Diseases. Nutrition Reviews, 65(6), 268-281.
Wen, L. M., Orr, N., Millett, C., & Rissel, C. (2006). Driving to work and overweight and obesity: Findings from the 2003 New South Wales Health Survey, Australia. International Journal of Obesity, 30(5), 782-786. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803199
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