Psychologic Factors of Obesity: The Relationship Between Obesity and the Choice of Foods?

 It is a fact that we eat because we are hungry. If there is an alteration in balance (stimulus), there is a physiological activity (reaction) in a reverse relationship to restore the initial homeostasis hunger/satiety. It is widely recognized that gustatory and olfactory stimuli are transferred from the mother to the fetus through the amniotic fluid. Many of the learnings about food and nutrition In the first two years of life are produced here, which will shape my food preferences and dietary habits that are followed until adulthood, a stage in which some authors have suggested that Obese people show a tendency to salty flavors, as well as greater reactivity to external factors that stimulate pleasure, being less sensitive to internal hunger/satiety signals. On the other hand, the act of eating not only tries to cover a physiological requirement, but other factors also play an essential role in the acquisition of certain eating patterns. The psychological, social, and cultural aspects interrelate with each other and are key to choosing a type of lifestyle. Various authors attribute the confluence of these factors as causal agents of obesity directly, as well as the relevance of personality on food choice. Specifically, neuroticism includes characteristics considered negative emotionality, which influence the eating behaviors of the subjects. In short, sensory stimuli such as smell and taste contribute to the individual choice of food preference, being the choice of diet individually, and therefore, of modulation of appetite, and also, it seems clear that the relationship between personality, emotions and eating pattern, directly affect the tendency to the current obesity conditions.

Keywords: Choice, Emotions, Factors, Food, Homeostasis, Neuroticism, Obesity, Personality, Preferences, Psychological.