Bio-psychological perspectives of eating disorders and obesity: a revisited

ABSTRACT

Food is closely related with emotion. It often provides comfort and satisfaction. Some individuals choose to turn to food to curb their negative emotion, resulting in disturbances in eating patterns, such as overeating which lead to obesity and severely controlling food intake, which culminate in eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating. These disorders are not related to the eating problems per se but often due to underlying or complicated by psychological factors, namely depression, anxiety, impulse control problems and personality. The roles of psychological factors in eating disorders and obesity should therefore not be downplayed. These disorders should be managed comprehensively involving multiple approaches, including not only biological but also psychological interventions provided by a professional team comprising endocrinologists, psychiatrists, dietitians, exercise physicians and surgeons.