1. Which approach do you
think is more concrete? Explain why.
The Biological perspective
may not give the best reasoning for obesity, but it does give a good back-story
on why humans are now so susceptible to becoming overweight. As humans, we are
crazy efficient processors of fructose. The saying, “a little goes a long way”
is very valid here. Back in the day (as in WAY back) fruit was scarce.
The craving of fructose even became a survival skill. You needed the fructose
to survive but only a few of us had the mutation of processing fructose
well enough to survive. And now, sugar is profuse but we still crave it just as
much.
America is all about
extremes and the issue with the socio-cultural perspective is that it only
focuses in on one side of them. This perspective notes America’s culture of
bigness. There are never ending commercials advertising “more for less.”
America is concerned about serving high quantity rather than high quality.
The ironic part about this perspective is that we are also extremely health
conscious. Everyone is always looking for the best new diet or workout routine,
reading magazines to find out how the celebrity A-listers “lost the weight to
fit the dress.” America is just full of contradicting extremes.
Although the biological and socio-cultural perspectives both have strong
factors that impact obesity, it is the psychological perspective that I find to
offer the most solid contribution to understanding the controversial issue of
obesity. The psychological view understands that sugar is an addiction in
everyway. There is an article on Sugar in National Geographic explaining why we
can’t resist it and it says, “an injection of sugar into the bloodstream
stimulates the same pleasure centers of the brain that respond to heroin and
cocaine.” When depressed, a person tends to gravitate towards eating a bunch of
junk food. It’s a coping mechanism because the sugar boosts your dopamine
levels. The biological and socio-cultural perspectives without a doubt increase
the likelihood of obesity but it is the disease of the addiction to sugar that
the psychological perspective bears weight to which is why it is more concrete.
2. Based on your
introduction to the various modern approaches to psychology, which approach not
discussed might provide another rationale for obesity? Explain your
answer.
I believe the behavioral approach provides another rationale
for obesity. Humans are creatures of habit because it provides us with
stability and comfort. For example, when you come home from a long day of
school, you throw your backpack on the ground, kick your shoes off, grab a bag
of chip, then plop yourself on the couch to relax and watch some tv. Vegging
out and snacking acts as a reward for getting through your day but soon enough
when you look in the mirror you start seeing where those chip have gone. The
problem is this daily routine is so comforting that its hard to break
out of. Obese people might notice their bad habits of eating and lazying
around, but the instant reward of these actions can be too temping to quit.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that American has become addicted to sugar; food scientists have even engineered sugar crystals to greater satisfy our taste buds. In fact, the food business has become so obsessed over satisfying our tastes with artificialities that it deems difficult to pull out of such costly projects. Marketers and advertisers will do anything to get people to buy their products.
Julia, I really like how you stressed our obsession with sugar. I agree that we have evolved to crave it as sugary foods excite certain pleasure receptors in the brain. Sugar is in virtually *EVERY* processed food on the market and the highs that cane sugar gives us leads us to crave more even more food because of it's incredibly high glycemic index- our body burns the carbohydrates more easily but protein is what truly triggers the feeling of fullness, which I learned upon researching the validity of the Atkins diet. In fact, when I started a paleolithic-type diet last year I found myself more able to easily control my hunger and my weight , thus all the processed and packaged foods we so heavily rely on do contribute dramatically ( which leads me to believe that this problem is deeply rooted in our biology and societal standards).
ReplyDeleteJulia, I liked how you talked about extremes. Many Americans eat in an unhealthy manor by both over and under eating. Still many of Americans work harder than anyone else to be healthy. Maybe the diverse population in America could be the basis for another psychology blog. I also fear that we should look at how nutrients biologically and directly effect the brain, because maybe there is also a visible reason as to why some Americans are overweight.
ReplyDeleteJulia, as Goebel stated I also liked how you talked about the extremes and expressed that you we're always advertising "more for less" when it contradicts our main goal in being healthy in that yes you get more for less but what you get is a whole lot more unhealthy for you than if you got something of the same amount for more that provided a stronger nutritional value.
ReplyDeleteJulia,
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with your claim on the sugar addictions that most Americans have. We need to get rid of the "high quantity rather than high quality" aspect of food, as you stated, and go toward the cuisine of France with their healthy and delicious food that does not come in massive servings. Additionally, I agree with your choice of the behavioral perspective as important because we, as humans, are very weak creatures. We just refuse to admit it and give in to things that we enjoy more than things that are good for us.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteI think modern psychologists lose sight of the fact that all basic behavior is based on ancient situations. The needs for food, water, and shelter overshadow any other desires we may have. In the case of obesity, I find it extremely easy to believe our biological systems are designed to make use of sugars and the like. This fact certainly relates to obesity, as it encourages rapid consumption and, unfortunately, too much consumption.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteI believe that in your explanation of the psychoanalysis perspective of obesity, it ties in with the behavioral approach. Because our brain enjoys the release of dopamine by he food we eat, our body learns to want food when we feel stressed or tired. Ultimately, I firmly believe all of the approaches tie together when figuring out the cause for obesity.