The Boston College Eating Awareness Team defines overeating as "uncontrollable eating followed by feelings of guilt and shame." The medical community considers it an eating disorder similar to bulimia, but without the purging. Overeating does not necessarily mean that a person is overweight, but it can often lead to obesity if a person continually consumes more calories in a day than his body expends.
Rise in Overeating
Dr. David A. Kessler states in his book, "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite," that overeating in the U.S. saw a dramatic spike beginning in the late 1980s. Through the 1960s adult weight remained relatively stable. People would gain a few pounds between age 20 and 40, and then lose the weight in their 60s and 70s. However, as the food industry changed and marketed more foods that are high in sugar, fat and salt, the number of overeating Americans increased exponentially. This increase was so dramatic that the average weight of a woman between the ages of 20 and 29 rose from 128 lbs. in 1960 to 157 lbs. in 2000, a nearly 23 percent increase.
Physiological Causes
MayoClinic.com notes that one cause of overeating is an imbalance of the hormones ghrelin and leptin in your body. Ghrelin causes hunger, and leptin reduces it. Imbalances in these hormones due to the frequency of your meals or your emotional state can cause you to eat more than you require. Additionally, the human body finds foods with high sugar and fat contents the most desirable, and when you are around these types of food regularly you may be compelled to seek pleasure from them even when you do not need to eat.
Psychological Causes
Food can be an emotional comfort for many people, which in turn leads to overeating when we are distressed. Food can trigger the release of dopamine in your body, which is a calming chemical associated with pleasure. When you experience stress, anger, depression or other undesirable emotions, you may turn to food as a way of releasing dopamine into your blood stream to compensate for these feelings. According to 2010 research done at the University of Texas at Austin, "obese individuals have fewer dopamine receptors in the brain" than leaner people do.
Prevention and Treatment
Because the issues that can lead to overeating are complex, finding the right treatment can be difficult. Keeping an accurate log of your meals, including what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat and your emotional state at the time can help you to better determine what the causes of your overeating are. Simple changes in your diet, such as eating frequent, small meals that are filled with whole grains, fruits and vegetables, can help to stabilize your appetite and reduce your urge to eat. Some people also seek psychological and peer counseling to help control overeating.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Overeating -- What Causes It?
- Homeplate: Boston College Eating Awareness Team: Compulsive Overeating
- Florida International University Office of Employee Assistance: Strategies to Decrease Overeating
- University of Texas: Research Examines Viscous Cycle of Overeating and Obesity
- "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite"; David A. Kessler, M.D.; 2009
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