Quality of Life

Quality of Life is a subjective concept assessment of the positive and negative aspects of life. In addition to many other health risks, obesity has widely been considered to provide a detrimental impact on health-related quality of life.

Why is this important to acknowledge?

In a study of over 64,000 people, a reduction in quality of life as a result of increasing Body Mass Index (BMI) was found to be greater than that found linked to cancer, myocardial infarction and diabetes, and similar to having schizophrenia, heart failure or kidney failure (Sullivan 2001)

Social Impact

Obesity plays a highly impactful part in everyday social life, including low self-esteem and increasing social concerns such as bullying and stigma. Excess weight commonly is associated with feelings of anxiety towards appearance and the fear of being judged for how they look.

Mental Illness

Chronic stress, feelings of depression, and anxiety intertwine themselves with obesity through the connection of lethargy leading to poor dietary habits and an overall sedentary lifestyle. People who live in an obese state often additionally struggle with mood and anxiety disorders

Physical and Occupational Functioning

The physical incapacity to mobilize oneself in an ordinary fashion, whether it's difficulty traveling in public or even feeling fatigue simply by walking around throughout the day can lead to social isolation, loneliness, and insecurity induced depression

For more on the impact of obesity on metal health:

For more on social relations and obesity:

References

Kolotkin, R. L., and J.R. Andersen. “Home - PMC - NCBI .” National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/.

Puhl, Rebecca M, and Chelsea A Heuer. “Obesity Stigma: Important Considerations for Public Health.” American Journal of Public Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, June 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2866597/.

Stephenson, J., et al. “The Association between Obesity and Quality of Life: A Retrospective Analysis of a Large-Scale Population-Based Cohort Study - BMC Public Health.” BioMed Central, BioMed Central, 3 Nov. 2021, https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-12009-8#Abs1.