Chapter 8: Nutrition, Obesity, and Eating Disorders

Question 1

overweight

Answer 1

body weight that exceeds the desirable weight for a person of a given HEIGHT, AGE, and BODY SHAPE

Question 2

obesity

Answer 2

excessive accumulation of body fat

Question 3

glycemic index

Answer 3

ranks carbohydrates based on how quickly your body converts them to the sugar glucose.

Question 4

glycemic load

Answer 4

is a measure of how much a certain food will raise a person’s glucose level.

paying attention to these is very important because your body performs best when blood sugar is relatively constant. when it drops too low, you feel lethargic and hungry; when it’s too high, your pancreas produces more insulin, which brings your blood sugar back down by converting the excess sugar to stored fat

Question 5

fat

Answer 5

a major source of energy and also helps the body absorb essential vitamins.

Transfats are unhealthful and should be avoided altogether. Saturated fats should be consumed in moderation, and mono/polyunsaturated fats are healthful and should be consumed regularly

Question 6

coronary heart disease

Answer 6

consumption of saturated fat, especially trans fat, both of which become dietary cholesterol in the body, is a contributing factor in many adverse health conditions, including coronary heath disease.

cholesterol is a waxy substance essential for strong cell walls, myelination, and hormone production. the cholesterol that we take in from the fats in our foods is nonessential because the liver manufactures all the cholesterol the body needs

Question 7

three different types of serum cholesterol

Answer 7

low-density lipoproteins (LDL), triglycerides, and high-density lipoproteins (HDL)

Question 8

what is the best predictor of heart disease?

Answer 8

amount of LDL and triglycerides in the blood

Question 9

multiple chronic conditions (MCC)

Answer 9

two or more chronic conditions (lasting a year or more, requiring medical attention and/or limiting daily activities) that affect a person at the same time

Question 10

what three things determine BMR?

Answer 10

heredity, younger people need fewer calories for the same amount and level of physical activity, and fat tissue has a lower metabolic rate than muscles do

Question 11

set-point hypothesis

Answer 11

the idea that each of us has a body weight “thermostat” that continuously adjusts our metabolism and eating to maintain our weight within a genetically predetermined range, or set point

Question 12

adipocytes

Answer 12

collapsible body cells that store fat, and whose presence is indicative of being full of food. Increased adipocytes mean increased hunger.

when adipocytes reach their maximum storage capacity, they divide, a condition called fat-cell hyperplasia. Once the number of fat cells increases in a person’s body, it never decreases, even when the person diets

Question 13

how many adipocytes does a healthy person have vs an obese person?

Answer 13

20-30 billion vs roughly 200 billion

Question 14

what areas of the hypothalamus are linked to hunger?

Answer 14

the lateral and ventromedial hypothalamus

Question 15

describe the role of the pancreas in short-term appetite regulation

Answer 15

the pancreas produces the hormone insulin and assists the body in converting glucose to fat. When glucose levels fall, insulin production increases, and we feel hunger. Conversely, when glucose levels rise, hunger and insulin levels decrease. As time passes since our last meal, the level of glucose in the blood drops

Question 16

ghrelin (appetite stimulant)

Answer 16

appetite stimulant

the stomach produces ghrelin, which causes the pituitary gland to release growth hormone and stimulates appetite

ghrelin also stimulates receptors on nerve cells in the hippocampus, a brain area involved in learning and memory

Question 17

peptide YY

Answer 17

appetite suppressant

Question 18

leptin (fat hormone)

Answer 18

as body fat increases, higher levels of leptin signal the normal brain to suppress hunger. animals with defective leptin genes produce too little leptin and overeat.

as a person gains weight, more leptin is produced - this shuts off appetite, increases energy expenditure, and triggers other mechanisms to restore body weight to its weight set point

Question 19

body-mass index

Answer 19

a measure of obesity calculated by dividing body weight by the square of a person’s height

although it provides a good estimate of body fat, it’s an incomplete measure of health as it relates to body fat

Question 20

what are acceptable body fat percentages for men and women?

Answer 20

18-23% for men, and 25-30% for women

Question 21

what is the biggest problem with BMI?

Answer 21

it reflects total body fat without regard to how it is distributed. while the overall amount of body fat is important, evidence suggests that where body fat is distributed may be even more significant

Question 22

abdominal obesity

Answer 22

excess fat around the stomach and abdomen; also called male-pattern obesity

Question 23

weight cycling

Answer 23

repeated weight gains and losses through repeated dieting

Question 24

biological factors in obesity

Answer 24

heredity determines 50% of the likelihood of obesity. heredity influences BMR, and different genes influence body weight.

despite evidence for the role of biological factors in obesity, it is important to recognize that specific genetic defects only account for about 4% of cases of human obesity, and the role of genetic factors in obesity are polygenic (involve the interaction of several genes)

Question 25

psychosocial factors in obesity

Answer 25

if your friends are fat, you likely will be too

the presence of acute and chronic stresses are associated with eating in the absence of hunger

Question 26

poverty-income ratio

Answer 26

the ratio of household income to the poverty threshold after accounting for inflation and family size

Question 27

cultural and socioeconomic factors or obesity

Answer 27

there is an inverse relationship between obesity and socioeconomic status, and an inverse relationship between obesity and education/occupation level

Question 28

why are less educated, lower SES people at increased risk for obesity?

Answer 28

lack of access to good health care, less knowledge about the importance of a healthy diet and the hazards of obesity, lower perceived self-efficacy in being able to increase their fruit and vegetable intake, and less exercise. lower accessibility to healthy foods is another issue

Question 29

food deserts

Answer 29

geographical areas with little or no access to foods needed to maintain a healthy diet

Question 30

do diets work?

Answer 30

not alone - developing better eating and regular exercise habits are better methods of weight management

Question 31

why do diets fail?

Answer 31

many people have unrealistic expectations and find it nearly impossible to comply with dietary restrictions for very long

not many people are capable of calculating how many calories their body needs

Question 32

competitive foods

Answer 32

foods and beverages that are often high in calories, sugar, fat, and sodium that are sold in schools in vending machines, a la carte lines, and student stores

Question 33

anorexia nervosa

Answer 33

an eating disorder characterized by self-starvation; a distroted body image; and in females, amenorrhea

Question 34

bulimia nervosa

Answer 34

an eating disorder characterized by alternating cycles of binge eating and purging through such techniques as vomiting or laxative abuse

Question 35

binge eating disorder

Answer 35

an eating disorder in which a person frequently consumes unusallualy large amounts of food

Question 36

biological factors in eating disorders

Answer 36

biochemical abnormalities at all levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis are associated with both anorexia and bulimia