Why obese people don't lose weight easily?

By Sabahat Ramzan, BS (Hons) Human nutrition and dietetics

           Why obese people don't lose weight easily?

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Abstract

Obesity has become a leading epidemic throughout the world. About 2 million people in the world are obese. This article reviews the major reasons including chronic stress, depression, hypothyroidism, least physical activity, monotonous diet, PCOS, hormonal disturbance, and poor sleep. Least physical activity and poor dietary habits are the major factors that contribute towards obesity. People who are trying to lose weight face problems like chronic stress which encourages the consumption of high palatable foods and appetite increasing hormone cortisol. Depression also increases the emotional eating of persons. Hypothyroidism has a direct relation with obesity by decreasing the metabolic rate and thermogenesis of the body. Poor sleep downregulates the satiety hormone and increases the appetite hormone which causes obesity. PCOS and hormonal disturbance are the major causes of women obesity.

Introduction

Obesity is now a multidisciplinary field that covers public health, social, cultural, behavioral, and political dimensions and now has become an epidemic all over the world. The global epidemic obesity report shows that about two million people in the world are obese and overweight which is about 30% of the world’s population. It is not just a cosmetic concern but also a medical problem that is a leading cause of other major diseases like obesity, CVD, hypertension, and various cancers. It also causes gynecological and sexual problems along with sleep apnea and osteoarthritis in women. People all over the world tried their best to lose weight but there are following causative agents that are associated with obesity.

Chronic stress

It is theorized that stress is associated with obesity and neurobiology of stress significantly regulates the appetite. High level of stress changes our eating pattern and encourages the consumption of high palatable foods or comfort foods that are high caloric foods which in turn motivates a person to eat more, although increased food intake with acute stress does not occur with everyone because during acute stress appetite-suppressing hormone (corticotrophin-releasing hormone ) is released while during chronic stress the body releases Cortisol which increases a person’s appetite. Stress also changes the eating behavior and changes brain reward\motivation pathway that is involved in wanting and seeking of HP foods. Such behavioral changes further promote changes in weight and body mass and excessive accumulation of fat especially along with viscera. Thus, it is evident that people who are trying to lose weight with chronic stress face difficulties (Kyrou & Tasigos, 2008).

Depression

Obesity is associated with a high prevalence of overeating disorders which is frequently accompanied by depression and seen in most people who are trying to lose weight (Dixon et al., 2003). People having depression have poor food choices and a sedentary lifestyle which may lead to weight gain and obesity. Studies show that depression is mostly in those people who are overweight and obese. Depression is theorized to cause obesity indirectly through behavior like emotional eating, eating calorie-dense food and less activity. on the other hand, obesity is a deeply stigmatizing attribute that promotes negative thinking and depression. Thus, these two are closely related to each other and it is difficult to recognize whether obesity causes depression and depression causes obesity. Thus, people who are suffering from any sort of depression is difficult to lose weight (De Wit et al., 2010).

Hypothyroidism

Obesity and hypothyroidism are two medical terms that are closely related to each other. The thyroid gland is involved in basal metabolism, temperature regulation of the body and also play an important role in glucose and lipid metabolism, oxidation of fat and food intake of a person. Hypothyroidism is a condition in which your thyroid gland does not produce enough of crucial hormones, and it is associated with decreased metabolic rate, and decreased thermogenesis of the body. Decreased metabolic rate results in increase BMI of the body and it leads to obesity. Even mild hypothyroidism can result in overweight and obesity. thus, people having problems like hypothyroidism face difficulty in losing weight (Sanyal & Raychaudhuri, 2016).

Least physical activity

Physical activity is very essential for the maintenance of body weight. Obesity occurs when our energy intake is greater than the expenditures, excess energy is stored in our body in the form of fat cells. The global rate of obesity has been increasing due to the sedentary lifestyle of people. When obesity develops caloric intake is equal to the expenditures. For losing weight not only reduced the caloric intake but also increase the physical activity level of the body. Now obese people are very sedentary and it is very difficult for doctors and health care professionals to promote physical activity in them and thus weight lose becomes a difficult task. Strong motivation with intensive feedback between patients and health care professionals is necessary to lose weight. Moreover, further studies are required for a better understanding of physical activity and long-term weight lose management. (Griera et al., 2007).

PCOS polycystic ovary syndrome

PCOS is a condition that affects women’s hormone levels during the reproductive age. Women with PCOS produce a higher number of male hormones that may lead to infertility and other problems.

Adipose tissue plays an important role in the development and maintenance of PCOS disease. Studies also reveal that women who suffer from PCOS pathology also suffer from obesity, insulin resistance, and other metabolic syndromes.  Obesity is a common finding in women with PCOS about 40-80% of women with PCOS pathology are overweight and obese. Thus, women having PCOS syndrome suffer difficulty in weight loss. (Sam, S. 2007.)

Poor sleep

Poor quality sleep is responsible for the development of obesity and diabetes mellites. Experimental studies show that poor sleep duration downregulates the satiety hormone LAPTIN, and upregulates the appetite-stimulating hormone, GHRELINE, and thus increases the hunger and appetite (Spiegel et al., 2009). Studies reveal that sleep reduction results in metabolic and endocrine changes that result in decreased glucose tolerance decreased insulin sensitivity, increase cortisol secretions. Along with the current increase in the epidemic of obesity is the result of the poor sleep-wake cycle. Research shows that the women who get seven hours of sleep are less likely to get obese than the woman who slept five hours. Thus, people having disturbed sleep-wake cycle face problem in weight reduction. (Leproult, R., & Van Cauter, E. 2010)

Conclusion

It is concluded that obesity prevention is a public health priority and is the currently noticeable epidemic in the world. Studies show that the most popular cause of obesity identified is a lack of physical activity and poor dietary habits. Besides these described causes there are many other factors that also contribute towards the prevalence of obesity.so, obesity should be managed by increasing physical activity and improving our diet and problems associated with it should be cured to improve the status of healthy life and for the people who are trying to lose weight.

 Author's Details
Sabahat Ramzan, BS Scholar
Department of Human nutrition and dietetics, GC University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Reviewed & Edited by

Parwsha Zaib1, M.Ahsan ul Haq 2

1 Ph.D. Scholar,2 M.Phil Scholar

1.Department of biotechnology and bioinformatics, GC University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

2Department of Biochemistry, GC University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

References

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2.      ¹Dixon, J. B., Dixon, M. E., & O'Brien, P. E. (2003). Depression in association with severe obesity: changes with weight loss. Archives of internal medicine, 163(17), 2058-2065.

3.      : De Wit, L., Luppino, F., van Straten, A., Penninx, B., Zitman, F., & Cuijpers, P. (2010). Depression and a meta-analysis of community-based studies. Psychiatry research, 178(2), 230-235.

4.      . Leproult, R., & Van Cauter, E. (2010). Role of sleep and sleep loss in hormonal release and metabolism. In Pediatric Neuroendocrinology (Vol. 17, pp. 11-21). Karger Publishers.

5.      *Spiegel, K., Tasali, E., Leproult, R. et al. Effects of poor and short sleep on glucose metabolism and obesity risk. Nat Rev Endocrinol 5, 253–261 (2009).

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8.      T. M., McCarthy, M. I., Wass, J. A. H., & Franks, S. (2006). Obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome. Clinical endocrinology, 65(2), 137-145.

9.      Sam, S. (2007). Obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome. Obesity management, 3(2), 69-73.