The Psychology of Obesity

This chapter provides a discussion on the psychology of obesity. Four major individual factors have been explored as causes of overeating: interoceptive awareness, response to emotional experience, cognition, and biology. Current research is examining how underlying differences in neurobiology guide eating behavior. The past 50 years of research on the psychological causes of obesity have helped to isolate many important predictive factors and to clarify that obesity results from a variety of intra-and inter-individual factors. The factors that may be consequences of obesity are explained, such as stigmatization, discrimination, mental health problems, and physical health problems. Research on exercise interventions indicate positive health benefits, even in the absence of weight loss. It is clear that the mental health consequences of obesity should not take a back seat to treatments aimed solely at the physical health consequences.