Obesity in America has an overwhelming prevalence in adults. Nearly 36% of adults are considered obese and 1 in 20 are considered morbidly obese. Even scarier, 1 in 6 children ages 6-19 are considered obese.
Most people are aware that obesity can lead to health complications such as type II diabetes, heart disease, and other potentially deadly diseases. Along with well-known side effects, obesity and poor diets also lead to brain disease. The obesity problem isn’t getting better either, as long as processed, high fat foods dominate the supermarkets obesity will only continue to worsen.
Obesity, however, is different from other diseases. It is different because a person is not always 100% at fault for their obesity, but there are still choices that can be made to fix obesity. Obesity is also related to a person’s lifestyle, so by pointing out and critiquing a person’s obesity-you are also partially critiquing their lifestyle. This is the reason why obesity has a stigma.
The stigma with obesity stems from the fact that pointing out a person’s problem with obesity is viewed as a personal attack. The problem with obesity isn’t the appearance of a person, it is the health issues associated with the disease. By ignoring advice to eat healthy and live a more active lifestyle, people are knowingly putting themselves at risk of life-threatening diseases along with multiple lesser-known complications with their brains.
People should not be defined by their body weight, or any other disease, for that matter; but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do everything in their power to get treatment for that disease. People actively seek treatment for almost every other disease they are afflicted with, obesity shouldn’t be any different.
Society needs to separate physical appearance from a person’s health. Even though the two may be related, the obesity problem in America needs to be solved because of the health complications associated with the disease. Most people are aware that high-fat diets cause obesity which then leads to diabetes, heart disease, and other problems; but most are not aware that poor diet and obesity also leads to brain disease.
Hunger is controlled by the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. The system that controls hunger consists of two neuronal bodies. POMC/CART neurons suppress hunger by releasing melanocortins when stimulated that induce feelings of satiety.
After a meal, glucose and other factors such as insulin and leptin activate the POMC/CART neurons to make the body satisfied. The other neurons controlling hunger are the AGRP/NPY neurons. These neurons cause your body to feel hungry when they are activated or not inhibited. Insulin and leptin also act as inhibitors of these neurons after meals.
When you consume a diet consisting of high-fat foods your brain produces inflammation that affects the hypothalamus and hippocampus primarily. Hypothalamic inflammation can lead to both insulin and leptin insensitivity.
When your hypothalamus is insensitive to insulin and leptin, the POMC/CART neurons are not able to be activated as they should after meals. This results in a lack of satiety following meals which leads to overeating. Inflammation in the hippocampus can lead to an increase in production of activated microglia which can lead to cell damage and eventually hippocampal atrophy (loss of tissue). This can lead to cognitive impairment later in life.
In conclusion, obesity is a huge issue in American society. The stigma about obesity needs to be overcome by separating personal appearance from the disease itself. We want to end obesity because it is a neurological and potentially fatal disease.
The health issue of obesity is the reason we need to get rid of it; not because a person has less worth if they are obese. You would not think any less of a person with a different disease, so obesity should be no different.
Featured Image courtesy Salon.
Obesity: Health vs. Stigma
