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Welcome to Obesitypsychiatry.com! This website introduces
TOTAL WELLNESS Inc. An integrated system to care for our patients with obesity. We believe obesity
is a chronic disease that affects all areas of life. It causes much medical and psychological morbidity. The program
Total wellness uses a multidisciplinary approach to treat obesity. We believe that obesity has multiple causes: genetic, environment,
and psychological. While many innovative diets, exercise programs, surgeries have yielded great results they are
not long lasting and eventually result in weight regain. Unless the patient is regarded as a whole person and we treat
obesity with a multidisciplinary approach we will continue to see weight regain. Obesity is one of the leading
causes of medical problems and death in the developed world. The rates of obesity all over the world are increasing at
an alarming pace especially in the youth. Although there is an increase in awareness about the explosion of obesity too little
has been done and too late. The CDC has reported that data from two National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES) surveys show that among adults aged 20–74 years, the prevalence of obesity increased from
15.0% (in the 1976–1980 survey) to 32.9% (in the 2003–2004 survey). The two surveys also show, for children
aged 2–5 years, the prevalence of overweight increased from 5.0% to 13.9%; for those aged 6–11 years,
prevalence increased from 6.5% to 18.8%; and for those aged 12–19 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to
17.4%. Nearly 125 million adults in the USA are overweight or obese.
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What is Obesity? It is a chronic disease where there is excess body fat. It is measured by the Body Mass
Index. BMI and is result of greater caloric intake as compared with expenditure. Causes
of Obesity The cause of obesity is mutifactorial. Genetics, environment, experiences
growing up; all contribute to what food means to us. Certain neuropeptides control the energy balance and in obese patients
have been shown to be abnormal. Our environment encourages sedentary lifestyle, which causes a positive energy balance. Low
self esteem, depression, stress and boredom can be triggers for eating and perpetuating a vicious cycle of increased eating
with resultant guilt and worsening self esteem. Awareness of WHY
we eat and identifying triggers can help us reduce abnormal eating behaviors.
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