Introduction to psychology
Chapter 11: Health and Well-Being
11.1 What Affects Health?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Discuss the goals of health psychology.
Describe the biopsychosocial model of health.
Discuss disparities in health.
Discuss the causes and consequences of obesity.
Understand disorders of eating.
Discuss the causes and consequences of smoking.
Review the benefits of regular exercise.
People generally think about health and wellness in biological and medical terms, but
behaviors and attitudes affect your health.
Health Psychology: a field that integrates research on health and on psychology; it
involves the application of psychological principles to promote health and well-being.
Well-Being: a positive state that includes striving for optimal health and life
satisfaction.
Social Context, Biology, and Behavior Combine to Affect Health
Biopsychosocial Model: a model
of health that integrates the
effects of biological, behavioral
and social factors on health and
illness.
Causes of Mortality
Behavior/lifestyle contributes to the leading causes of death. Daily habits such as:
- Poor nutrition
, - Overeating
- Smoking
- Alcohol use
- Lack of exercise
All lifestyle choices, all contribute to almost every major cause of death in developed
nations.
Health Disparities
Racial and ethnic groups have large disparities in health. E.g. African Americans continue to
have a lower life expectancy than white Americans. Reasons for this include:
▪ Genetic variation in susceptibility to some diseases.
▪ Access (or lack of access) to affordable healthcare.
▪ Cultural factors such as dietary and exercise habits.
In impoverished countries, resources may be lacking to provide adequate treatments for
many health conditions such as HIV, malaria, and rotavirus.
Different lifestyles contribute to health differences, e.g. in some countries people often walk
or ride bicycles for transportation US and Canada, people often drive or use public
transportation. Physical activity differs, have long-term consequences for people’s health
and life expectancies.
Obesity and Maladaptive Eating Habits Have Many Health Consequences
Obesity is a health problem with physical consequences such as heart disease, high blood
pressure, diabetes, arthritis, and certain cancers.
Body Mass Index (BMI): the ratio of body weight to height, used to measure obesity.
Two issues with the use of BMI to predict health,
1. BMI does not take into account age, sex, bone structure, or body fat distribution
athletes or people with significant amounts of muscle could have high BMIs despite
being in excellent physical condition.
2. Because of these limitations a second issue is that a clear relationship between BMI
and health outcomes does not exist except for the very obese.
Overeating
, ▪ An increase in the variety of available food is a factor contributing to maladaptive
eating and therefore obesity.
▪ People tend to eat more when portions are larger, and portion sizes have increased
considerably in many restaurants nowadays.
▪ Body weight may be socially contagious. E.g. close friends of the same sex tend to be
similar in body weight.
Genetic Influence
▪ Obesity tends to run in families
- Family and adoption studies indicate that approximately half the variability in
body weight is genetic.
- BMI of adopted children is more strongly related to the BMI of their biological
parents than to that of their adoptive parents.
▪ Genetics determines sensitivity to environmental influences. Genes predispose some
people to obesity in environments that promote overfeeding, such as contemporary
industrialized societies.
The Stigma of Obesity
▪ Most Western cultures view obese individuals as less attractive, less socially adept,
less intelligent, and less productive than their normal weight peers.
▪ Perceiving oneself as overweight is linked to depression, anxiety, and low self-
esteem. (most obesity research with human participants is correlational for ethic
reasons).
▪ Not all cultures stigmatize obesity, many African nations and other developing
countries see being obese as a sign of wealth and being upper-class as it helps
prevent some infectious diseases, reduces likelihood of starvation, and it associated
with having more successful births.
Restrictive Dieting
Obsess people typically try multiple diets and cure to lose weight, relatively ineffective in
accomplishing permanent weight loss because body weight is regulated at a set-point. Most
individuals who lose weight through dieting will eventually regain the weight, or gain back
more than they lost.
Chapter 11: Health and Well-Being
11.1 What Affects Health?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Discuss the goals of health psychology.
Describe the biopsychosocial model of health.
Discuss disparities in health.
Discuss the causes and consequences of obesity.
Understand disorders of eating.
Discuss the causes and consequences of smoking.
Review the benefits of regular exercise.
People generally think about health and wellness in biological and medical terms, but
behaviors and attitudes affect your health.
Health Psychology: a field that integrates research on health and on psychology; it
involves the application of psychological principles to promote health and well-being.
Well-Being: a positive state that includes striving for optimal health and life
satisfaction.
Social Context, Biology, and Behavior Combine to Affect Health
Biopsychosocial Model: a model
of health that integrates the
effects of biological, behavioral
and social factors on health and
illness.
Causes of Mortality
Behavior/lifestyle contributes to the leading causes of death. Daily habits such as:
- Poor nutrition
, - Overeating
- Smoking
- Alcohol use
- Lack of exercise
All lifestyle choices, all contribute to almost every major cause of death in developed
nations.
Health Disparities
Racial and ethnic groups have large disparities in health. E.g. African Americans continue to
have a lower life expectancy than white Americans. Reasons for this include:
▪ Genetic variation in susceptibility to some diseases.
▪ Access (or lack of access) to affordable healthcare.
▪ Cultural factors such as dietary and exercise habits.
In impoverished countries, resources may be lacking to provide adequate treatments for
many health conditions such as HIV, malaria, and rotavirus.
Different lifestyles contribute to health differences, e.g. in some countries people often walk
or ride bicycles for transportation US and Canada, people often drive or use public
transportation. Physical activity differs, have long-term consequences for people’s health
and life expectancies.
Obesity and Maladaptive Eating Habits Have Many Health Consequences
Obesity is a health problem with physical consequences such as heart disease, high blood
pressure, diabetes, arthritis, and certain cancers.
Body Mass Index (BMI): the ratio of body weight to height, used to measure obesity.
Two issues with the use of BMI to predict health,
1. BMI does not take into account age, sex, bone structure, or body fat distribution
athletes or people with significant amounts of muscle could have high BMIs despite
being in excellent physical condition.
2. Because of these limitations a second issue is that a clear relationship between BMI
and health outcomes does not exist except for the very obese.
Overeating
, ▪ An increase in the variety of available food is a factor contributing to maladaptive
eating and therefore obesity.
▪ People tend to eat more when portions are larger, and portion sizes have increased
considerably in many restaurants nowadays.
▪ Body weight may be socially contagious. E.g. close friends of the same sex tend to be
similar in body weight.
Genetic Influence
▪ Obesity tends to run in families
- Family and adoption studies indicate that approximately half the variability in
body weight is genetic.
- BMI of adopted children is more strongly related to the BMI of their biological
parents than to that of their adoptive parents.
▪ Genetics determines sensitivity to environmental influences. Genes predispose some
people to obesity in environments that promote overfeeding, such as contemporary
industrialized societies.
The Stigma of Obesity
▪ Most Western cultures view obese individuals as less attractive, less socially adept,
less intelligent, and less productive than their normal weight peers.
▪ Perceiving oneself as overweight is linked to depression, anxiety, and low self-
esteem. (most obesity research with human participants is correlational for ethic
reasons).
▪ Not all cultures stigmatize obesity, many African nations and other developing
countries see being obese as a sign of wealth and being upper-class as it helps
prevent some infectious diseases, reduces likelihood of starvation, and it associated
with having more successful births.
Restrictive Dieting
Obsess people typically try multiple diets and cure to lose weight, relatively ineffective in
accomplishing permanent weight loss because body weight is regulated at a set-point. Most
individuals who lose weight through dieting will eventually regain the weight, or gain back
more than they lost.
