Obesity in women: female audiences are still the majority when talking about the disease

Obesity has become a public health problem that affects millions of people around the world and is still a growing challenge in Brazilian society. Furthermore, there is a notable prevalence among the female public, where the proportion of women over 20 years old with obesity increased from 14.5% to 30.2%, from 2003 to 2019, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE ).

Obesity, in addition to representing a health issue, brings a series of emotional and social challenges, especially for women. The stigma and prejudice associated with this condition can have significant impacts on the lives of this population, affecting their self-esteem, professional opportunities and mental health. Thus, there is a greater chance of a person having a mood disorder, such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders that can be triggered or worsened by the compromised quality of life that obesity itself generates.

According to the nutritionist specializing in weight loss and women’s health, Andressa Ferro, it is always important to observe other parameters in this context of obesity itself. “Obesity is also a result of the environment, it is not just weight. It is necessary to evaluate the person’s lifestyle, whether they exercise, what their habits are like, what their biochemical parameters are like, whether there is already a change in blood glucose or cholesterol. It is by analyzing and refining this information to have a context of obesity”, she explains.

This is a situation that ends up having a greater impact on women, especially in the context of mental health, as it is a condition that is closely linked to eating behavior, which is linked to the relationship with oneself. Therefore, the search to fit into beauty standards can lead to compulsion problems, which triggers a series of eating behaviors that need to be observed and evaluated.

“There are several types of disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, which are conditions in addition to clinical pathology that require multidisciplinary treatment. There is also what we call disordered eating, which many women don’t know the difference between. This is an act in which you eat a little more than necessary due to an emotion that is not well resolved at that moment”, highlights the nutritionist.

Driven by episodes of anxiety, disordered eating always ends up being taken out on food. In these cases, the patient will not necessarily have an eating disorder, but rather episodes that also need to be treated with a multidisciplinary team to try to discover what triggers this need and what nutritional and psychological tools can be adopted to prevent this from happening.

Andressa Ferro also explains that this occurs because the person wants the feeling of well-being that the food will provide. However, this is a sensation that can be obtained with other things as well, without always having to resort to food.

“When this happens, it is understood that the point has been overstepped. In a generalized way, so that you can start investigating yourself, whenever these episodes happen, I recommend writing them down. From there, we begin to observe when it happened, what it was like, how she felt and what thoughts made the patient eat. This is a cycle that is often repeated. That’s why it’s important to map the events, it’s the beginning of starting treatment for this condition,” she advises.

Furthermore, it is essential to be alert to being overweight and the signs that the body gives so that extra care and attention can be exercised with symptoms such as exacerbated hair loss, lack of energy or difficulty sleeping, which could lead to obesity in the future.

It is important to highlight that the treatment involves a multidisciplinary network focused on providing the appropriate environment that favors the weight loss process and, mainly, knowledge about oneself.

“I usually say that in nutrition we only have one point, because when we are talking about recovering an individual it is not just the weight, but all the complaints that come with that condition. The path to achieving an improvement in this condition does not only involve food and supplementation. It is necessary to seek therapy, physical exercise and sleep regulation. It is necessary to broaden this view, including to the environment in which it is included. In the end, if this woman goes through the process of getting to know herself, of understanding herself, the weight will naturally unfold and gradually evolve”, concludes Andressa Ferro.