A photograph of Dr. Scot A. Currie, DO. Courtesy photo

It has long been a well-established and well-documented fact that obesity — a complex, chronic disease which involves the abnormal or excessive accumulation of body fat — is one of the most pressing concerns for an individual’s physical health.

Obesity is a major risk factor in the development of health problems such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, kidney disease and some types of cancer.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) defines being overweight — as measured by height versus weight — as having a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29, and Class 1 obesity as having a body mass index between 30 and 34.9. Class 2 obesity is defined as having a BMI between 35 to 39.9, and Class 3 obesity (severe obesity) is defined as having a BMI of 40 and over.

Earlier this year, it was reported by the Associated Press that a group of global experts is proposing a new way to define and diagnose obesity, however. The proposal reduces the emphasis on BMI — which can be controversial in a minority of cases because some well-conditioned, muscular athletes may have a higher than average BMI, but very low body fat. The proposal will instead focus on identifying people who need treatment based on excess body fat, and rather than relying solely on BMI to determine obesity, will also factor in such variables as waist circumference, plus evidence of health problems tied to carrying extra weight.

According to the CDC, obesity rates among Americans have tripled over the last 60 years, and 40.3% of American adults were considered obese in a study that was conducted between August 2021 and August 2023. Obesity affects 1 billion people worldwide.

Obesity and mental health are often very deeply intertwined as well. According to information published on the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health “Stop Obesity Alliance” website in May 2021, mental health and obesity are related in complex ways, as obesity affects mental health, and vice versa.

There has been an established link between obesity and mental health problems including depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and schizophrenia.

In conjunction with National Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the Mirror will examine the complex link between obesity and mental health disorders – and professional treatment for both of these issues –in a four-part series that begins in today’s weekend edition. The series will continue with a second article in the May 10-11 edition that will examine the psychological and physical factors that can play a role in compulsive food consumption and the development of obesity, along with the negative social ramifications and biases that the obese often face.

The third article in the series will appear in the May 17-18 edition and examine nutritional and dietary strategies for dealing with obesity, while the fourth and final article, which will run in the May 24-25 edition, will examine the efficacy of bariatric surgery for the obese.

According to information that was published on the American Psychological Association’s website, the causes of obesity are rarely limited to just prolonged overeating, or a sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, the disease of obesity often cannot be adequately and fully addressed by just diet and exercise alone.

Obesity, like mental health disorders, is often unfairly stigmatized by the unknowing and uninformed public as simply being the result of a lack of personal self-discipline and willpower, when, in fact, both obesity and mental disorders can often be rooted in, and triggered by, a complex assortment of adverse life experiences such as trauma, loss, abuse and bullying. This may especially be the case when those adverse experiences are suffered very early in a person’s life.

“Just as there is a public stigma toward mental health conditions, there is a stigma toward obesity, too,” said psychologist Denis Navarro, retired outpatient services supervisor and clinical specialist for the UPMC Altoona Behavioral Health Department, who has been doing psychological evaluations for the UPMC Altoona Surgical Associates Bariatric Center of Excellence for the past decade.

Various genetic and physiological factors may also all contribute to compulsive overeating.

“There are often a lot of obesity issues within a family, so genetically, these people can be swimming upstream,” Navarro said. “Biochemically, the way that one person’s body reacts to food may be different than that of another person who has a different genetic makeup.”

Next: Many factors play a role in obesity.