Psychosocial factors in obesity

Obese people as a group have similar mental health as normal weight people, and there are no psychiatric features characteristic of obesity in general. However, small subgroups of obese individuals may have psychiatric abnormalities which are specific for obesity, such as body image disturbance or periodic compulsive overeating (bulimia). Obesity is strongly related to sociocultural factors. In western countries obesity is commoner in lower than in higher social classes. Thus, the development of obesity is influenced by social status. However, also the converse is true: recent observations suggest that obese people lose social status. This is probably due to prejudice and discrimination against obese persons in the modern western society.