Zak Muggleton, Fourth Year Medicine
*** Trigger warning: this article will discuss themes related to food consumption. If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with problems related to their eating, please do not hesitate to use any of the contacts provided by https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/eating-problems/useful-contacts/ , or by contacting your GP.***
We are constantly reminded by articles, social media posts, adverts, and even by the conversations we have with those closest to us, to think about the food we consume. My fixation on this part of our daily lives was prompted by an interaction I had with a nurse during my night shift in hospital, when she reached for a single ‘Percy Pig.’ Upon grasping the sweet, she commented that she ‘really shouldn’t have one,’ and, upon placing it into her mouth, exclaimed that ‘there [were] probably still percy pigs left for her to eat because those “skinny women” that [she] works with don’t eat them.’ It could be theorised that she made the joke to offset the discomfort it caused her to eat the treat, and in doing so, compared her eating habits to those of her colleagues. No one could judge her for responding this way because, as will be discussed, there are many social factors that play into why one eats more than they require. It is an extremely common human behaviour to eat more than we may need to, for a variety of reasons, and it is normally prompted by what occurs within your daily lives. Across the globe, there has been a drastic increase in obesity rates since 1990, with rates across both genders more than quadrupling, becoming known as the “epidemic of obesity,” (O’Hare, 2024). The ‘Behavioural Susceptibility Theory’ (BST), curated by psychologists Llewellyn and Wardle (2015), has attempted to give us some sort of explanation for why this may have occurred.
The BST suggests that there are two main factors contributing to one becoming obese: food responsiveness (FR) and satiety responsiveness (SR). FR refers to the mechanism whereby someone wants to eat food that they perceive around them, predominantly by sight, or smell. It is important to note that this can be either in response to food itself in the physical form, or non-physical representations of food, such as videos or images. SR is how readily one feels full once they have eaten the food, which tends to lessen as one’s consumption increases. As per the BST model, if one’s FR is high, and SR low, one is predisposed to becoming obese.
So, what determines one’s level of FR and SR? It is thought to be, at least partially, based on one’s genetic make-up. Previous twin and adoption studies have shown a 50-90% heritability of these factors. However, the model is geno-environmental. In the western world, many people live in ‘obesogenic’ environments, whereby the social systems we have put in place to assist us with our day-to-day living have predisposed many individuals to becoming obese. These include: food being too readily available (especially fast food, and the increased production of cheaper, less-nutritious foods), people being able to live more sedentary lifestyles (perpetuated by 9-5 desk jobs, for example), and social norms perpetuating unhealthy daily habits (such as leaning away from buying organic fresh produce from locally-run farm shops and towards buying more, in the majority, processed food from supermarkets). How obesogenic one’s environment is, is also majorly affected by one’s socioeconomic status. How much disposable income one possesses can afford those within higher socioeconomic groups a more balanced and nutrient-rich diet. This is a protective factor against obesity.
However, the BST is not immune to critique. Firstly, the concept of FR itself is fundamentally flawed, as one cannot conclude that one chooses to eat food solely based on their sensory perception of it. Other factors, such as ease of food preparation and culinary expertise, are not considered by the BST. There is a large difference between eating a packet of crisps when one sees one on the countertop and eating chicken breast, that must be prepared correctly and takes time to do so. SR also has to be disputed, as not all foods may make one feel as full as others. As Palsdottir (2023) states, certain macronutrients make you feel fuller than others, such as proteins and fibre-rich carbohydrates, rather than, as aforementioned, a packet of crisps, which contains a load of ‘empty calories’ that don’t make one feel full. Also, a newer, more intriguing phenomenon has come to light, demonstrated by the work of Wang and Li (2022), that is extremely applicable to students. There is some evidence that the hypothalamus, which releases corticotropin-releasing hormone [CRH] and subsequently stimulates the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH], which then stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol, has the ability to modify its activity when one experiences stress, protecting an individual against gaining weight in response to it. But Wang and Li’s intriguing animal-based research has suggested that high-fat diets make this process less sensitive and responsive, which may explain why some overeat when experiencing stress, and some don’t..
So, the decision for one to decide whether they eat the last Percy pig is affected by a variety of factors, both environmental and genetic. If, as a society, we appreciated this fact more readily, maybe we’d stop comparing each other’s eating habits, and focus on making essential changes to our lifestyles that aim to decrease the incidence of obesity. And, once again, we have yet another cause to be cautious of how much stress we put ourselves under, reminding us to be kind to ourselves more frequently.
References (APA style):
Llewellyn, C., & Wardle, J. (2015). Behavioral susceptibility to obesity: Gene-environment interplay in the development of weight. Physiology & behavior, 152(Pt B), 494–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.07.006
O’Hare, R. (2024). More than one billion people now living with obesity, global analysis suggests. Imperial. [Online article]. [Available at: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/251798/more-than-billion-people-living-with/#:~:text=From%201990%20to%202022%2C%20global,seen%20in%20almost%20all%20countries. ]
Palsdottir, H. (2024). 14 of the Most Filling Foods. Healthline. [Online article]. [Available at: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/15-incredibly-filling-foods#:~:text=Foods%20high%20in%20protein%20and,%2C%20Greek%20yogurt%2C%20and%20popcorn. ]
Wang, X., & Li, H. (2022). Chronic high-fat diet induces overeating and impairs synaptic transmission in feeding-related brain regions. Frontiers in molecular neuroscience, 15, 1019446. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2022.1019446
THE WORSLEY TIMES 
Leave a comment