In recent discussions of obesity, scholars have debated the issue of whether the cause of obesity stems from the genetic make up of an individual or if ones’ environment has subsequently caused their obesity. On one hand, K. Rajender Rao et al. argues that there seems to be several heritable traits that attribute to an individuals BMI rating which when high is a direct correlation to obesity. In the article, “Genetic & epigenetic approach to human obesity” the authors state “Human obesity, usually arises from the combined effects of the interactions among multiple genes”. On the other hand, Clare Llewellyn and Jane Wardle argue in their article “Behavioral susceptibility to obesity: Gene–environment interplay in the development of weight” both
…show more content…
An adult’s odds of becoming obese are immensely increased if there is an existence of sexual or physical abuse at a young age. Studies focussing on psychological aspects of obesity are small in number because of its unidentified importance in the origin of obesity in the past yet in recent years it has been found that “[t]here is evidence that childhood psychological trauma is associated with severe obesity.” (A. S. Richardson et al. 352). In the article by A.S. Richardson et al. the impact that these traumatic events have on the likelihood of becoming obese have not been viewed in the past but have recently been examined because of their extremely positive associations with the prevalence of severe obesity in adulthood. The authors “used a large prospective, nationally representative, ethnically diverse cohort to examine risk of incident adult severe obesity over a 13-year period in adolescents followed into adulthood with history of childhood: (i) sexual abuse, (i) physical abuse or (iii) combined occurrence of sexual and physical abuse (compared with no history of sexual or physical abuse)” (A. S. Richardson et al. 352). This cohort study examined “20745 adolescents” (352) and assessed these adolescents through a thirteen-year long study researching the adverse effect abuse has on the probability of severe obesity in adulthood. When looking at minority and non-minority females who only exemplified one type of abuse the percentage of sexual abuse was close to 10% but when there was a prevalence of two types of abuse both sexual and physical this number doubled to almost 20% which was also similar with males (354). In addition, many of the aspects viewed by this study recovered that the prevalence of sexual and physical abuse combined created the greatest variability among individuals who had no history of abuse; showing a positive
An adult’s odds of becoming obese are immensely increased if there is an existence of sexual or physical abuse at a young age. Studies focussing on psychological aspects of obesity are small in number because of its unidentified importance in the origin of obesity in the past yet in recent years it has been found that “[t]here is evidence that childhood psychological trauma is associated with severe obesity.” (A. S. Richardson et al. 352). In the article by A.S. Richardson et al. the impact that these traumatic events have on the likelihood of becoming obese have not been viewed in the past but have recently been examined because of their extremely positive associations with the prevalence of severe obesity in adulthood. The authors “used a large prospective, nationally representative, ethnically diverse cohort to examine risk of incident adult severe obesity over a 13-year period in adolescents followed into adulthood with history of childhood: (i) sexual abuse, (i) physical abuse or (iii) combined occurrence of sexual and physical abuse (compared with no history of sexual or physical abuse)” (A. S. Richardson et al. 352). This cohort study examined “20745 adolescents” (352) and assessed these adolescents through a thirteen-year long study researching the adverse effect abuse has on the probability of severe obesity in adulthood. When looking at minority and non-minority females who only exemplified one type of abuse the percentage of sexual abuse was close to 10% but when there was a prevalence of two types of abuse both sexual and physical this number doubled to almost 20% which was also similar with males (354). In addition, many of the aspects viewed by this study recovered that the prevalence of sexual and physical abuse combined created the greatest variability among individuals who had no history of abuse; showing a positive