Chapter 8: diet, exercise, weight control

Question 1

Factors that explain people’s dietary choices

Answer 1

inborn processes, environment or experience with foods

Question 2

Effect of inborn processes and experiences with food on diet

Answer 2

the influence of genetic factors on one’s perception of sweetness and preferences for vegetables, fruit, and protein; preferences for dairy and starches

Question 3

5 environmental influences of diet

Answer 3

(1) newborns can learn to change their preferences based on their mother’s diet; (2) exposure to a food may increase liking of it; (3) availability of fast food increases its consumption; (4) modeling through ads; (5) supersized food portions increase consumption

Question 4

Health risks of dietary excesses

Answer 4

atherosclerosis, hypertension, cancer

Question 5

Atherosclerosis

Answer 5

the deposit of fatty plaques in our blood vessels due to cholesterol with low-density lipoproteins or “bad cholesterol’

Question 6

5 risk factors affecting the risk of LDL or bad cholesterol

Answer 6

age (over 45 for men and 55 for women), cigarette smoking, high BP, low HDL (<40 mg), family history of early cardiovascular disease

Question 7

Treatment for cardiovascular illness

Answer 7

reductions in LDL combined with dietary (e.g. mediterranean diet) and drug treatment (e.g. statin drugs) slowly reverses atherosclerosis and reduces risk of heart attacks

Question 8

Which substances has the greatest effect on BP?

Answer 8

sodium and caffeine increase BP and reactivity when stressed (temporarily for caffeine)

Question 9

Multiple risk factor intervention trial (MRFIT)

Answer 9

program designed to reduce high serum cholesterol by providing counselling and information about the benefits of and methods for dietary change

Question 10

2 criteria used to judge the desirability of our weight

Answer 10

attractiveness and healthfulness (having a normal BMI)

Question 11

Factors affecting the prevalence of overweight and obese people

Answer 11

nationality, sociocultural factors, gender, age

Question 12

What is responsible for the western obesity epidemic?

Answer 12

mostly environmental and lifestyle factors rather than biological (e.g. stressful lifestyle, high energy/high fat foods, fast foods, sedentary behavior, supersized portions, food packaging)

Question 13

Systems approach to obesity

Answer 13

obesity is an end result of the intricate interactions of biology, behavior, and environment

Question 14

Obesity

Answer 14

disease wherein one has a very high amount of body fat relative to lean body mass and a BMI of 30 or higher

Question 15

2 main reasons why adults tend to gain weight with age

Answer 15

weight is often put on at certain times (e.g. pregnancy) without being completely taken off; physical activity and metabolism declines with age

Question 16

Prevalence of underreporting dietary intake

Answer 16

common among heavy individuals, females, and people with little education

Question 17

Biological factors of weight

Answer 17

metabolic rate, heredity (e.g. BMI of parents, modeling health behaviors, epigenetics, specific genes)

Question 18

Set-point theory

Answer 18

each person’s body has a set weight that it strives to maintain through a thermostat-like mechanism that takes corrective measures when the body departs from the set weight

Question 19

Prediction of the set-weight theory

Answer 19

an drastic change in caloric intake for a few months shows rapid weight changes initially then shows slower changes until a limit is reached

Question 20

Role of hypothalamus in body weight regulation

Answer 20

it monitors the blood for specific hormone levels (ghrelin, leptin, insulin)

Question 21

Ghrelin vs leptin vs insulin

Answer 21

ghrelin is secreted when the stomach is empty and there is low energy intake; leptin regulates eating and metabolism; insulin regulates glucose conversion to fat and fat storage in adipose tissue

Question 22

Hyperinsulinemia

Answer 22

increased sensations of hunger, perceived pleasantness of sweet tastes, and food consumption due to high serum levels of insulin

Question 23

Fat-cell hyperplasia

Answer 23

development of an excessive number of fat cells due to weight gain that increases one’s set point, which is resistant to change

Question 24

Psychosocial factors of weight

Answer 24

perception of one’s weight changes, negative emotions (e.g. stress, boredom, depression), social network, sensitivity to food-related cues in the environment

Question 25

Binge eating

Answer 25

episodes wherein one eats more than most people would in a short period of time and feels unable to control that behavior

Question 26

Lifestyle factors of obesity

Answer 26

unhealthy diet (e.g. sugary drinks, alcohol), physical inactivity, poor sleep, screen time, stress, interpersonal factors

Question 27

3 factors of the health risks of being overweight/obese

Answer 27

degree of being overweight, fitness, fat distribution in body

Question 28

Compensatory beliefs

Answer 28

convictions that healthy behaviors can compensate for unhealthy ones

Question 29

Negative effects of compensatory beliefs

Answer 29

lower diet adherence and compromised weight loss success

Question 30

Factors of sucessful weight loss

Answer 30

high self-efficacy, constructive support from family and social network, gradual lifestyle changes

Question 31

Lifestyle interventions

Answer 31

program that incorporates behavioral methods to modify diet and exercise in overweight people

Question 32

3 conclusions on lifestyle interventions

Answer 32

(1) decreases body weight by 7-10% in 4-6 months; (2) most effective when accompanied by meals plans or replacements; (3) many maintain their lower weight

Question 33

5 components of lifestyle interventions

Answer 33

nutrition and exercise counselling, self-monitoring, stimulus control techniques, altering the act of eating, behavioral contracting or having a reward system

Question 34

2 important features of lifestyle interventions

Answer 34

having family or friends working as a team and rewarding individuals for not engaging in sedentary activities

Question 35

Problem-solving training

Answer 35

teaches people strategies that will help them deal with everyday difficulties of sticking to their diets

Question 36

Medically supervised approaches to weight loss

Answer 36

prescribed medications (e.g. orlistat), protein-sparing modified fast regimen, bariatric surgery, liposuction (strictly cosmetic and not for weight reduction)

Question 37

3 kinds of situations wherein people who have lost weight overeat

Answer 37

when there are food cues, they have negative emotions, and boredom

Question 38

2 critical components of follow-up treatment programs after weight loss

Answer 38

frequent therapist meetings to deal with problems in maintaining weight; social influences of other group members

Question 39

Anorexia nervosa

Answer 39

ED with a drastic reduction in food intake and an unhealthy loss of weight due to fear of gaining weight and a distorted view of their body shape

Question 40

Bulimia nervosa

Answer 40

ED with recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by purging that occur when positive affect is low and negative affect is high (e.g. chronic high stress)

Question 41

3 psychosocial benefits of exercise

Answer 41

lower stress and anxiety, improved cognitive processes (for aerobic exercise), enhanced self-concepts (especially in children)

Question 42

7 strategies to promote exercising

Answer 42

preassessment of purposes, benefits, health status; exercise selection; exercise conditions; setting specific, graduated, and measurable goals; reinforcement; social influence; record keeping

Question 43

Health halo effect

Answer 43

tendency to judge an entire food item as healthier based on one or more specific attributes that are perceived as healthy (e.g. “organic” label)

Question 44

What kinds of diets are best?

Answer 44

sustainable, balanced diets that provide optimal amounts of all essential nutrients for the body’s metabolic needs

Question 45

“Healthy at every size” (HAES) approach

Answer 45

an alternative to the weight control approach to getting healthy that focuses on weight-neutral outcomes (e.g. setting behavioral goals instead of target body measurements)

Question 46

Goals of the HAES approach

Answer 46

to promote size-acceptance, end weight discrimination, reduce the cultural obsession with weight-loss and thinness

Question 47

Sedentary behavior

Answer 47

any activity involving sitting, reclining, or lying down that has very low energy expenditure; different from low physical activity