4. Mechanisms Behind Obesity

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about some of the biological and psychological mechanisms behind obesity, focusing in particular on: (i) the categorisation of obesity as having a BMI between 30 and 39.9; (ii) twin study research which has proposed that around 80% of obesity prevalence can be explained by genetics; (iii) contrasting genetic research which proposes that all 97 of the genes relating to obesity found so far only explain around 2% of obesity prevalence; (iv) serotonin being present in lower levels in obese individuals, which could explain a desire to eat more to generate more serotonin; (v) a lack of dopaminergic sensitivity could lead obese individuals to eat more in order to gain the same dopaminergic repose; (vi) the onset of obesity which may originate in restricted dieting resulting in an ignorance of the body’s own hunger and fullness processes; (v) the phenomenon that individuals who actively restrict their eating find that they feel hungry earlier and feel full after larger amounts of food eaten; (vi) the ‘escape from awareness’ theory, which suggests that binge eating enables the individual to detach themselves from their stressors by focusing solely on the action of eating; (vii) masking theory, which suggests that binge eating can be made a scapegoat for emotions that are attributed to other issues in reality; (viii) affect regulation strategy, which suggests that binge eating can be a way of lessening experiences of unpleasant emotions in the short-term.

Course

In this course, Dr Laura Renshaw-Vuillier (Bournemouth University) explores the mechanisms behind anorexia nervosa and obesity. In the first lecture, we think about some of the neural and hormonal bases for normal eating behaviours. In the second lecture, we think about some of the biological mechanisms behind anorexia nervosa, including the prevalence of genetic explanatory factors. Next, we think about some psychological mechanisms behind anorexia nervosa, including family systems theory, social learning theory and cognitive theory. In the fourth and final lecture, we think about some of the mechanisms behind obesity, covering neural, hormonal, and psychological factors.

Lecturer

Dr Laura Renshaw Vuillier is a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Bournemouth University. Dr Renshaw-Vuillier’s research interests surround the neural basis of emotion processing and regulation in eating disorders, as well as developing early interventions to help young people with gambling problems. Some of Dr Renshaw-Vuillier’s recent publications include 'The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with eating disorders: the role of emotion regulation and exploration of online treatment experiences' (2021) and 'Believing emotions are uncontrollable is linked to eating disorder psychopathology via suppression and reappraisal' (2021).