These findings are significant because they may allow women to target high-risk times, and consequently prevent unnecessary weight gain.
Risk by Economic Group. Obesity is more prevalent in lower economic groups. One 2002 study reported that women who reported that they did not have enough food were more likely to be overweight than those who said they had sufficient food. Researchers discovered that the low-income women tended to have fewer fruits and vegetables but were actually taking in more calories a day than higher-income women. In any case, obesity it is increasing in young adults with college education along with everyone else.
Ethnic Groups. Among ethnic groups in general, African American women are more overweight than Caucasian women but African American men are less obese than Caucasian men. (Currently, 80% of African American women are overweight.) Hispanic men and women tend to weigh more than Caucasians.
US Regions. Regionally, the prevalence of obesity is lowest in the Western states and highest in the South.
Dietary Habits That Increase Risk
A number of dietary habits put people at risk for becoming overweight:
- Night-Eating Syndrome. Night-eating syndrome is defined as having no appetite in the morning, insomnia, and consuming more than half of daily food intake after 6:00 PM. It is associated with obesity and is difficult to treat. Stress reduction and relaxation techniques may be helpful.
- Binge Eating and Eating Disorders. About 30% of people who are obese are binge eaters who typically consume 5,000 to 15,000 calories in one sitting. To be diagnosed as a binge eater, a person has to binge at least twice a week for 6 months. Many experts believe that binge-eating carbohydrates causes an increase in a natural opiate leading to dependence on carbohydrates, and, therefore, the condition should be treated as an addiction. Other eating disorders are bulimia and anorexia. Bulimia is binge eating followed by purging in order to lose weight. Anorexia nervosa is a mental illness in which the person refuses to maintain weight at the normal level because of a terrible fear of getting fat and an abnormal perception of what his or her body looks like. Both conditions pose risks for serious medical problems, and anorexia nervosa can be life threatening. A combined approach using behavioral therapy and antidepressants may help these individuals. [For more information, see In-Depth Report # 49, Eating disorders.]
- Restrained Eating. Some people, mostly middle-aged women who have normal weight, have a pattern referred to as restrained eating. This pattern requires a high level of conscious control and usually maintains a lower weight. However, such restraint places these individuals at higher risk for loss of control and subsequent overeating.
- Infrequent Eating. There is some evidence to suggest that eating small frequent meals uses more calories than infrequent large meals. It should be strongly noted, however, that packaged snack foods add calories and some do not produce a feeling of being full, so that people simply eat more than they should.
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