Reaction Paper TwoObesity is Correlated with Increasing Depression Allison K. Holt Ball State University PSYS 100:001 Hypothesis:Obesity is correlated with increasing depression. My Initial Hypothesis In the past, I have heard from many people who aren’t obese that obesity can increase depression.
I know that some people become obese because they don’t have good eating habits, or they don’t exercise. I have known for many years now to eat every type of food source. I think one of the main reasons why people become obese is because they eat fast food all the time instead of cooking healthy meals. I have watched some TV shows where someone eats fast food all the time and they end up becoming obese and then they start to be depressed for some time.
I think one of the main reasons why people get depressed when they are obese is because people make fun of them. For an example, if a kid is obese, in school sometimes kids will make fun of them and it makes them depressed. On a TV show that I have briefly seen before, there was a kid and his parents bought him fast food all the time.
The kid soon became obese and then depressed where he would just watch tv all day. After a while the kid didn’t like the way that he looked or the way it made him feel. The kid finally decided to change his eating habits. His parents still bought junk food around him which was really hard for him because they knew their son was trying to give it up. It made the kid feel bad because his family still ate unhealthy foods around him. I know that there are some people out there who are obese have a hard time of walking without water. Once they are done, they are completely out of breath. I have heard from many people that Indiana is one of the obese states because people eat fast food all the time.
I have also heard that people who are obese sometimes aren’t treated fairly than others. From other people, I have heard that if you are obese, there is a possibility that you have a low self-esteem about yourself. But people are choosing to eat unhealthy foods and it affects them after a while. I have also heard from my parents that depression can also cause obesity. In my opinion, some people who do not exercise, become obese. I have also heard from many people that when students go to college and move away from their parents, they start to eat unhealthy foods which can cause them to become obese in the future. When kids move away from their homes, they can start to feel depressed which most of the time they don’t eat the healthiest foods on campus. Empirical EvidenceNot only does obesity increase in depression, it can also lead to other problems with your health in the future.
But, most of the time people become depressed when they are obese. People who are obese have symptoms of feeling loneliness and sadness which are some of the symptoms of depression. “Studies have shown that obese people are about 25 percent more likely to experience a mood disorder like depression compared with those who are not obese” (Thompson Jr, 2018). Obesity is known as your body weight image (Roberts, Deleger, Strawbridge, & Kaplan, 2003). Obesity can also cause people to have a low self- esteem about themselves which is one of the symptoms of depression (Thompson Jr, 2018).One of the best ways to treat obesity is by getting some type of surgery (Thompson Jr, 2018). It doesn’t always help though.
After surgery, people really need to be committed to eat healthier foods and to start exercising more often. A lot of people experience weight loss after they have had surgery. If they had depression because they were obese before surgery, the depression can also decrease as well as their weight.
They also have to continue to exercise so that way they can lose the amount of weight they want after surgery.In a study, “depressed males had an increased risk of obesity. Females with depressive symptoms had a marginally increased risk of being overweight but not obese” (Roberts, Duong, p.9). In this study, they said that kids can become obese without becoming depressed (Roberts, Duong 2013). But sometimes kids that are obese can also be depressed as well. Some people can consider themselves to be overweight but to not be obese including women. Race also plays a big part if someone is obese and also depressed.
“Being African American, female, young, married, or having low income or education increases the risk for obesity without depression” (Lincoln, Abdou, Lloyd, p.19). But this isn’t always true for everyone. If they are obese there is still a possibility that they can become depressed from being obese. There are also some people from different races that can be obese as well. Some girls can start to become obese and develop depression because of puberty (Wouters, Larsen, Dubas, Gennen, 2011). But after some time, it can decrease after puberty.
Many kids are a little chubby before puberty happens and after puberty that chubbiness can decrease but not always. Sometimes that is just how someone is built. But after exercising for a little bit, people can start to see a decrease of their body weight.My Current Opinion I have researched many topics about my hypothesis and I can say that my hypothesis wasn’t approved. I have read many articles that say obesity is correlated with increasing depression as well as it doesn’t increase depression as well. Depression can affect obesity because of how someone views themselves.
Obesity isn’t the only problem that can cause depression. People can get depression from many other ways as well. Sometimes kids can be obese or overweight if their parents don’t eat healthy and don’t exercise. After reading an article, I also learned that people can be obese without becoming depressed as well.
I have heard from parents that most of the time they feel bad because their kids are overweight because of their parent’s lifestyle eating habits. Sometimes kids will get picked on or teased by other kids if they are bigger. I have heard that this can also be a cause of depression. Even though I think obesity can cause depression, from researching, my hypothesis isn’t supportive. I found some sources, but it doesn’t really support my hypothesis. I also found some sources that do support my hypothesis. I have heard from many people that your mood can change if you are obese which can cause depression. After researching and writing a paper about how obesity can increase depression, I still believe it can but not for everyone.
ReferencesLincoln, K. D., Abdou, C.M., & Lloyd, D. (2014). Race and socioeconomic differences in obesity and depression among Black and non-Hispanic White Americans. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 25(1), 257-275.
https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2014.
0038. Thompson Jr, D. (2018). Depression and Obesity. Depression can lead to Overeating and Weight Gain; Obesity can lead to Overwhelming Sadness. Learn how to Break the Cycle. Retrieved from https://www.everydayhealth.
com/depression/depression-and-obesity.aspx. Roberts, R.
E., S. Deleger, S., Strawbridge, W. J.
, & Kaplan, G. A. (2003). Prospective association between obesity and depression: Evidence from the Alameda County Study. International Journal of Obesity, 27(4), 514-52. https:doi.
org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802204. Roberts, R. E.
, & Duong, H. T. (2013). Obese youths are not more likely to become depressed, but depressed youths are more likely to become obese. Psychological Medicine, 43(10), 2143-2151.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291712002991.
Wouters, E., Larsen, J., Dubas, J., & Geenen, R.
(2011). Different Mechanisms Underlie Post- menarchial Increase in Depression and Weight. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 18(3), 254-259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-010-9113-x.
