Overeating

When overeating is called a diet of humans and domestic animals in which the body more energy is supplied than is needed. It comes to a positive energy balance. Long overeating is associated with overweight or obesity.

For the majority of people today and in history more malnutrition than the overeating was a problem, however, resulted in the " Global Burden of Disease Study " (Source: Lancet 2012; 380 ( whole issue) ) that now more people from the consequences die from obesity than malnutrition. Outside privileged upper classes have only the mass production of the food industry and improved transportation in the 20th century - especially after the Second World War - as well as pre-produced food is a widespread overeating possible.

But not only humans but also pets like dogs and cats are overfed, especially in the western world part. The selective feeding of slaughter animals by humans is called a mast.

Causes

In the evolutionary history of man, it was advantageous for the Homo sapiens to store energy quickly in times of food abundance. This energy storage could then be consumed in times of food shortage again. Nowadays, there are at least in industrialized countries food in abundance. As a result of the balance between energy supplied from the diet of human beings and the energy consumption due to lack of movement.

Worldwide, about a billion people live very overweight (WHO). Should this trend continue, the number of over -fed and therefore overweight people will rise to 1.5 billion within the next decade. After the problem was for decades limited to the wealthy industrialized countries, observed recently an increase in diet-related diseases in emerging countries such as India or the People's Republic of China.

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

Fundamental to a balanced food intake is a balance between hunger and satiety, an unconscious mechanism that can be understood as genetic adaptation of man to his prehistoric environment. This mechanism was built in the environment of the hunter- gatherer cultures, when access to food was more difficult than in sedentary or modern cultures and as the food on average a lower physiological nutritional value ( colloquially calorie ) had. A problem of modern food product is a high physiological nutritional value, with the result that, when food intake amount necessary to achieve the feeling of satiety, more calories are recorded, as when recording a same amount of less caloric food.

A second difference of modern foods is their faster digestion: sugar and starch go quickly into the bloodstream, and if they are not in use, stored as fat. The empty digestive tract then signals a feeling of hunger, so that the frequency of food intake in easily digestible foods increases.

Furthermore, the emotional food of the people is adapted to physical exercise. To avoid overeating, a predominantly sitting about working person needs to reduce food intake.

Unclear, the observed variability in the eating habits of people in a society. Even with over abundant food availability maintains only a part of the population to varying degrees overeating. There are blamed both genetic variability and methods of education, lifestyle, cultural norms and psychological pressure for these differences.

The longitudinal study, " Nurses' Health Study " has many contributions provided for in nutrition.

Overeating and obesity

The relationship between overeating, so a positive energy balance, and an undesirable weight gain ( obesity ) is described by the set of conservation of energy:

This fundamental equation can be taken of itself entail no conclusion about a possible causal chain between the weight gain and overeating (see cum hoc ergo propter hoc). Rather, they are two logical conclusions possible (and plausible ):

Especially the second point is hidden in the view mostly. In other areas (growth phase of children, pregnant women) has been proven that an increase in body tissues ( energy storage ) has a positive energy balance result (children eat more because they grow and do not grow because they eat more).

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

Consequences of overeating and overweight

Obesity is recognized as a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. Come to the risk factor obesity are two of the risk factors diabetes (diabetes), dyslipidemia ( elevated cholesterol or LDL) or high blood pressure in addition, there is a significantly higher risk of suffering a cardiovascular disease later in life. Therefore, experts speak of cardio- metabolic risk factors. When other risk factors contribute to smoking and stress the closure of the heart and brain supplying vessels.