Sociology of Health
Hypothalamus
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Lateral increases hunger Insulin sensitive
Ventromedial: glucose sensitive: decreases
hunger:
Orexin secreted increasing hunger
Gherlin: produced by stomach when empty
increases hunger, switches when full.
PPY: intestines are full, decreases hunger
Leptin produced by fat cells, decreases hunge
and increases activity when the cell maintains its
fat level, and metabolism. When fat is lost, leptin
production decreases, creating a desire to eat
and eat.
It is much harder to lose weight, than to gain it
in the first place.
Neurobiological Roots
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The Hypothalamus:
controls sex drive and turns
hunger on and off by
monitoring blood sugar
(glucose) and cell depletion.
 Controls the thyroid whose
hormones control
metabolism.
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1 never to 5 all the time
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How often do you eat:
1. because you want to treat yourself?
2. as a reward for having done something that you’re proud of or feel good
about?
3. because you like to eat?
4. because it’s a special or traditional part of some social occasion or
celebration?
5. because you are depressed or sad?
6. because you deserve it?
7. because you feel worthless or inadequate?
8. because you feel good or are in a good mood?
9. as a way to help you cope?
10. as a way to comfort yourself?
11. as a way to avoid thinking about something unpleasant or to distract
yourself?
12. as a way to enjoy a social gathering?
13 as a way to celebrate a special occasion with friends, family, or a loved
one?
14. to be sociable?
15. to keep people from asking questions about why you’re not eating?
16. because someone pressures you to eat?
17. because you feel like you can’t say “no”?
18. to join in a festive occasion?
19. because you don’t want to stand out or be different from others who are
eating?
What affects weight
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Calories in, activity out
Genetics: range in humans
Set Point?
Industrialization of Food: dense calories hidden in yummy, easy to consume package;
Access to “good” food.(money,location), knowledge of what’s good
Habits and cultural
Sedentary lifestyle (types of people)
Age
Metabolism
Relationship to food: psychological, body image
Restrictive dieting
Advertising
Stress and cortisol
External
Sleep deprivation
The eating “system”
Evolutionary drives.
Hunger
Hunger is turned on and off
by the hypothalamus.
 Brain reads blood-sugar
(glucose) and insulin levels,
cells losing water or fat,
stomach constrictions, taste
sensations from taste buds.
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Set Point
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The body is brilliantly designed
to handle the intake of food,
extract energy and store
enough extra for emergencies.
Theory that everyone has a
genetically driven set point of
body weight that the body tries
to achieve. BASIL Metabolic
Rate and hunger is altered to
achieve the set point.
Set Point
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We consume about 20 tons of food over
40 years, a .01 ounce increase in daily
input would increase weight by 24 lbs.
Given a starvation diet people level off at
about ¾ of their weight, the metablolism
adjusts.
In reverse, increasing calories about 1000,
people fidget more.
Most scientists now believe set point can
be adjusted my changing behaviors over
time.b`
Ask about the vibrating mouse.
The Evolved Brain
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Evolved in environment of scarcity
not plenty.
Food systems are designed to hold
weight not loss weight.
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Orexin: Hungry
Ghrelin: hungry/stomach
PPY: satisfied/Digestive
tract
Leptin: satisfied:,increases
metabolism, when it stops,
your brain can’t think of
anything but food.
When fat is lost, leptin is
reduced and you feel
hungry all the time
Insulin: Hungry
Glucose: Satisfied
Combined energy
Some human population have
a gene mutation that blocks
leptin sites, this has been
done to fat mouse.
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They are always hungry.
Genetic link
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Twins raised apart the same weight.
Adopted siblings uncorrelated with
adopted family or other siblings, but
yes with biological parent
With obese parent: boy 3x, girl 6s
likely to be obese
They’ve located a single gene
correlated with obesity.
Psychological links.
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Food companies target children in
advertising to get them use to eating
bad food.
Once you begin to gain fat, it is
extremely difficult to lose it as fat
cells fight shrinking by ceasing leptin
productions, bombarding the brain
with hunger messages.
Novel Foods
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Many people shy away from foods
that are new, probably protective.
Starvation
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When experimenters put subjects on
starvation diets they,
Lost about 35% of weight then
leveled off.
Became food obsessed, not even
thinking about SEX.
Why restrictive dieting can cause
obesity
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Creates a binging mentality.
Turns down metabolism when a
normal diet is restarted
Over 90% of people regain the
weight plus more as the body
prepares for future “famine”
Proper diet
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High in complex carbohydrates, non
high fat protein fruit and vegtables.
At least 45 minutes of moderate
exercise daily.
FOREVER!
Before you “just world” fat people
ask yourself
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If being fat is a character flaw (eg no
will power, lazy) then
If we’re getting fatter, then
We are losing character.
If that doesn’t make sense, then
other scientific explanations should
be looked at.
Fat Facts
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Body Mass Index about 30 is
associated with:
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Certain cancers
• Sleep apnea
• Arthritis
Correlation Is not causation
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Some people with high BMI are fit
and have little health effects from
weight.
60% of adults are overweight, 34%
obese.
Growing levels of obesity children
Middle age people tend to be
overweight more often because their
metabolism is slowing down
Stress leads to obesity
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Stress produces the hormone cortisol
which unburned leads to increased
heart disease, anxiety and bell fat.
After being stressed, which
temporarily reduces appetite, the
hunger cycle increases dramatically
leading to binging, or eating the
refrigerator after school.
Cultural changes in U.S.
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More sedentary workplaces ( no farming
or factory work)
Computers
Television
Industrialized cheap, available food
Successful advertising aimed at children
Society is getting older, therefore fatter as
statistical whole.
Obsession with body and self worth
Restrictive dieting
Exercise is good for your health,
but not the “end all” for weight
control
Poorer People tend to be fatter,
and we’re getting more poor people
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Less exercise in high crime neighborhoods
Less access to good food: cheap high
calorie food is the norm
More stress=more cortisol=more stored
fat
Heavy is hot
Lack of health care
50% of black and Hispanic women are
overweight, men are about the same.
Obamacare: A final word.
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From a MICROsociological perspective,
some will pay for parts they don’t use and
that seems unfair.
At a MACROsociological level, society has
been trying to figure out a cost effective
way to provide universal care since
Roosevelt….TEDDY Roosevelt.
• All Presidents since have recognized the need
for cost effective way to deliver.
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Republicans have generally advocated a
private system, subsidized by
government. (even Reagan signed bill
making hospitals treat those who are
uninsured)
Democrats have generally advocated a
universal government run plan.
Obamacare uses the Republican model of
private insurance, subsided by taxes.
Things you may not want to pay for
nor use, but are for the public good.
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Streetcars, Metro, Aquatic centers, Dog parkes
National Parks
Seat belts in cars
Sugar farmers subsidies so they don’t have to
compete with foreign sources.
Gas exploration
Local Roads and bridges to nowhere
Museums
Food stamps
Social security
The NSA
Drones
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Scores go from 0 to 36, with zero
indication an extremely positive body
image.
The authors suggest scores about 14
suggest a need to develop a stronger
body image.
Facts about Eating Disorders
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Body dissatisfaction is soaring,
89% of women and 22% of men
think they need to lose weight.
A majority of women would not
accept a 10 point rise in IQ if it
meant a one size rise in butt size.
15% of women and 11% of men
would sacrifice five years of their
life to be their ideal weight. About
25% 3 years.
Facts about Eating Disorders
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Pregnancy is increasingly becoming
associated as an encumbrance to
body style, with women not having
children to keep their shape.
Teasing has a lasting effect on body
image and esteem: belief
perseverance.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
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A warped perception of what your body
looks like. Overly critical, obsessive
misperception of your own body.
Separate from other eating disorders in
that it can be focus on any body
part…nose, butt, eyes, whatever. Thinking
that that body part is ruining you.
Sometimes leads to multiple plastic
surgeries (Michael Jackson)
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What is your:
Preferred shape (if you’re a guy)
Image of yourself (if you’re a girl)
Idea of what guys like (girls)
Ideal size (girls)
Women and Body Image
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Given a scale of body image
women want to be thinner than
they think men like.
Women’s current body
assessment is bigger than what
they think men want.
Men actually prefer women
heavier than what women think.
Eating Disorders
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Anorexia Nervosa: marked by
extremely lower than ideal weight.
Over 15% lower.
Bulimia Nervosa: Marked by bingeing
and purging. Bulimic are weight is
often around normal, making them
more difficult to spot. More Bulimics
than anorectics.
Eating disorders: Anorexia
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Anorexics come from homes with high
ideals for perfection, parents who are
weight obsessed. Mostly a disease of the
upper middle class and wealthy white
world. Girls tend to be “perfect.”
Control is a big issue with anorexics
Anorexics have massive distortions of
perception, they truly belief they are the
500lb woman.
Eating Disorders: bulimia
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Bulimics come from families with high
levels of depression and alcoholism.
Bulimia must have a purging element to
technically be bulimia.
Purging can be in the form of laxatives,
throwing up, even excessive exercise.
Bulimia is way more common than
anorexia.
Bulimics tend to hover around a normal
weight.