Overeating

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As overeating is called a diet of humans and pets , in which the body more energy is supplied there as needed. There is a positive energy balance . Persistent overeating is associated with being overweight or obese .

For the majority of people today and in history, malnutrition was more of a problem than overeating, but the Global Burden of Disease Study (source: Lancet 2012; 380 (full edition)) found that more people are now suffering from the consequences die from being overweight than from malnutrition. Outside the privileged upper classes , it was the mass production of the food industry and improved transport options in the 20th century - especially after the Second World War  - as well as pre-produced food that made widespread overeating possible.

But not only humans, but also pets such as dogs and cats are partially overnourished , especially in the western world . The deliberate overeating of animals for slaughter by humans is called fattening .

causes

In human tribal history , it was beneficial for Homo sapiens to quickly store energy in times of abundance of food. These energy stores could then be used up again in times of lack of food. Today, at least in the industrialized world, there is an abundance of food. As a result, there is a lack of balance between the energy supplied from human nutrition and the energy consumption through exercise .

Around one billion people worldwide are severely overweight ( WHO ). If this trend continues, the number of overfed and therefore overweight people will rise to 1.5 billion within the next decade. After the problem had been confined to the affluent industrialized countries for decades, an increase in diet-related diseases has recently been observed in emerging countries such as India and the People's Republic of China.

A necessary condition for overeating is an adequate supply of food .

A balance between hunger and satiety , an unconscious mechanism that can be understood as a genetic adaptation of humans to their prehistoric environment, is fundamental for a balanced diet . This mechanism arose in the environment of the hunter-gatherer cultures, when access to food was more difficult than in sedentary or modern cultures and when the food had a lower physiological calorific value (colloquially: calorie content ) on average . A problem with modern foods is a high physiological calorific value, with the result that when the amount of food required to achieve satiety is consumed, more energy is consumed than when the same amount of low-energy food is consumed.

A second difference in modern food is that it is more quickly digested : sugar and starch are quickly released into the bloodstream and, when not needed, are stored as fat . The empty digestive tract then signals a feeling of hunger, so that the frequency of food intake increases with easily digestible foods.

Furthermore, the emotional intake of food is adapted to physical activity . In order to avoid overeating, a person who works mainly seated has to reduce his food intake.

The observed variability in the eating habits of people in a society remains unexplained . Even with excessive food availability, only part of the population is overeating to varying degrees. Genetic variability as well as educational methods , lifestyle , cultural norms and psychological pressures are held responsible for these differences.

The longitudinal study “ Nurses' Health Study ” has made many contributions to nutrition .

Overeating and being overweight

The relationship between overeating, i.e. a positive energy balance, and unwanted weight gain ( overweight ) is described by the principle of energy conservation :

Change in energy storage in the body = absorbed energy - released energy

Taken by itself, however, this fundamental equation does not allow a conclusion about a possible chain of effects between weight gain and overeating (see cum hoc ergo propter hoc ). Rather, two logical conclusions are possible (and also plausible):

  1. Weight gain is caused by overeating, i.e. H. due to excessive energy input or insufficient energy consumption.
  2. Another cause (e.g. a hormonal disorder ) causes weight gain, which leads to overeating.

The second point in particular is mostly hidden from view. In other areas (growth phase of children, pregnancy in women) it has been proven that an increase in body tissue (energy storage) results in a positive energy balance (children eat more because they grow and don't grow because they eat more).

Overweight is determined by various measurement methods. Well-known measurement methods are the Broca index (normal weight in kg = height in cm - 100) and, as a much more established method, the body mass index (BMI). The BMI is defined as the body mass (in kg) divided by the square of the body height (in m).

Consequences of overeating or being overweight

Obesity is recognized as a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease . If two of the risk factors diabetes (diabetes), lipid metabolism disorders ( high cholesterol or LDL ) or high blood pressure are added to the risk factor obesity , there is a significantly higher risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease in the course of life. Experts therefore also speak of cardio-metabolic risk factors. As further risk factors, smoking and stress promote the closure of the heart and brain supplying vessels.

literature

  • CF Belanger, CH Hennekens, B. Rosner, FE Speizer : The Nurses' Health Study . In: Am J Nurs , 78/1978, pp. 1039-1040, PMID 248266 . (The first publication on this study.)
  • K. Oh, FB Hu, JE Manson, MJ Stampfer, WC Willett: Abstract Dietary Fat Intake and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Women: 20 Years of Follow-up of the Nurses' Health Study . In: Am J Epidemiol , 161 (7) / 2005, April 1, 2005, pp. 672-679, PMID 15781956 .