Obesity and Health Flashcards
Obesity:
- excess weight affects health
- chronic disease (not just a symptom or risk factor)
Person-first language:
- person first, not their disease
- ex. person with obesity, not obese person
- reduce stigma associated with chronic diseases tied to lifestyle choices
- increasingly becoming standard practice
Factors that influence the development of obesity:
- societal influences
- food production
- food consumption
- individual psychology
- individual activity
- activity environment
- biology
How to measure obesity:
- diagnostic tests with their own cut off points (BMI, tricep skinfold thickness, waist circumference, DXA)
- vary in cost
BMI =
weight/height squared (kg/m^2)
Most common measure in both research and practice:
BMI
____ needs to be considered when defining overweight and obesity.
age
Children under 5 years of age:
- overweight is weight-for-height greater than 2 SD above WHO Child Growth Standards median
- obesity is weight-for-height greater than 3 SD above the WHO CGS
Children aged between 5-19 years:
- overweight is BMI-for-age greater than 1 SD above the WHO Growth Reference median
- obesity is greater than 2 SD above the WHO Growth Reference median
Problems with BMI:
- doesn’t take into account lean vs fat mass (football linebacker would be classified as having obesity)
- good for use at population level, more info needed to diagnose obesity at the individual level
Stage 0 obesity:
- medical: absent
- mental: absent
- functional: absent
Stage 1 obesity:
- medical: pre-clinical risk factors
- mental: mild
- functional: mild
Stage 2 obesity:
- medical: co-morbidity
- mental: moderate
- functional: moderate
Childhood obesity is perceived as especially concerning because…
unhealthy eating behaviours tend to persist into adulthood
Children with obesity and their parents (usually ____) are often _____ and _____ for their size.
- mothers
- blamed
- shamed
The 4 Ms of obesity:
- mental
- mechanical
- metabolic
- monetary
Possible mental health impacts of obesity:
- depression
- anxiety
- low self-esteem
- negative self talk
- body dissatisfaction
- disordered eating/eating disorders
Possible mechanical health impacts of obesity:
- obstructive sleep apnea
- gastroesophageal reflux disease (heartburn)
- osteoarthritis
- plantar fasciitis
- urinary/fecal incontinence
- intertrigo (skin-fold infections)
Possible metabolic health impacts of obesity:
- type 2 diabetes
- hypertension
- elevated cholesterol
- gout
- fatty liver disease
- infertility
- cancer
Possible monetary (social) health impacts of obesity:
- education
- employment
- increased cost of living (eg. clothing, mobility aids)
- cost of weight-loss programs
Stigma of obesity:
- health consequences which overlap with those of obesity
- the last socially acceptable form of discrimination
- thin = health = good; fat = unhealthy = bad
- fat talk (eg. you look great, have you lost weight) is pervasive
What can you do about the stigma of obesity?
- be aware of it (reflect on your assumptions)
- shame is not the name of the game
- when you see it happening, question it and challenge it
- don’t assume you know where the person is at
Obesity cannot be diagnosed through ____ and _____ measurements alone.
- height
- weight
Obesity has many _____ consequences, but so does ____ ____.
- health
- obesity stigma
Obesity is a ____ issue, which tends to be _____.
- complex
- oversimplified
