Frequency (Epidemiology)

Occurrence in the populationEtwa every 5th adult and every 20th young person in Germany suffers from obesity (overweight) requiring treatment. The probability of becoming overweight clearly increases with age. Especially women are at risk with increasing age.

In addition to determining the BMI (Body Mass Index) and the distribution of fat, medical laboratory tests are necessary to assess the risk of the above-mentioned diseases. Furthermore, a so-called “weight curve” should be drawn up as part of the diagnosis. In this curve, the patient writes down the previous course of his weight and discusses with a doctor-therapist whether he can assign certain fluctuations in weight to certain life events.

In this context, the patient should also create a wish curve from which his or her target weight can be read. In addition, so-called nutrition diaries have proven to be very useful, in which all food and drinks consumed by the patient are recorded for one week. This instrument is particularly important for determining any binge-eating disorder or other unfavorable eating behavior (e.g. frequent consumption of sugary lemonade or particularly high-fat food, etc. ).

Causes

Contrary to the common opinion that obese overweight patients simply eat too much, science has shown in recent years that various factors play a role in the development of overweight (obesity).

Genetic aspects:In twin studies it was proven that so-called genetic factors play a role in the development of obesity overweight. So there were z.B.
Cases of adoptions in which pairs of twins were separated and showed the same weight development despite completely different environments. Also there seem to be sometimes very clear differences in how humans “metabolize” the food offered to them. The same amount of calories can therefore lead to very different weight developments.
Psychological aspects:Many people know very well whether you are a good or a bad “calorie digester”, i.e. they know whether you are a quick fat burner or not.
Accordingly, these people often have a very slow food intake. The same is true for people who are subject to certain social rules (e.g. young women). They are taught that only a slender body is a beautiful body, so they too limit and rein themselves in wherever possible.

But the problem with this restraint is that it is a pure “head ban”, i.e. the head dictates and all other needs have to obey. So it does not matter if I am still hungry or if “Lust” would still have a piece to eat. My head (my mind) forbids me to eat.

But most people are now so knitted that absolute bans can often have the opposite effect. Example: Ms. M. decides not to eat any more cake. She loves cake, but I know that she “only has to look at cake to gain weight”.

So she forbids herself. After a few “cake-free” days, Mrs. M. has a lot of trouble at work and meets a friend in the afternoon to talk about it. Of course the friend bought cake, because she knows how much Mrs. M. loves cake.

Mrs. M. is so upset about the trouble that the voice of her reason can no longer be heard, so that the desire for cake in her rage virtually takes control. After the first piece, however, she pauses once more when she realizes that she has broken her commandment. Instead of stopping now, however, she now falls into a kind of “black-and-white thinking” in which she says to herself “Now it doesn’t matter anymore!

!” and gives herself over to further enjoyment. In the group of bulimic patients, one finds this alternation of great control and total breakdown of the control system in partly extreme form.
Physical aspectsLarge-scale studies have shown that obese (overweight people) in many cases do not consume as many calories as people of normal weight.
However, it was shown that obese patients generally showed a clear shift towards fat in the sense that they consumed more fat for the same amount of calories. This led to a rethink in the therapy of obesity (overweight). In the past, it was assumed that simply reducing the amount of food was the key to success. Nowadays, it is assumed that the amount an overweight patient eats is not of such great importance as long as it is as “low-fat” as possible. Here carbohydrates (such as bread, potatoes, noodles) are not “forbidden” foods in a weight reduction (weight loss) contrary to earlier opinions.