




































Annals of Psychophysiology 
©Advance Educational Institute & Research Centre 

Volume 5, October 2018  
www.aeirc-edu.com 

ISSN 2412 - 3188 
 
 

Faizan Mirza 1 

 

Letter to Editor                                                    DOI: 10.29052/2412-3188.v5.i1.2018.1-5 

Obesity; An outcome of abnormal eating behavior 
Faizan Mirza 

University of Karachi, Pakistan  

Corresponding author Email: faizan.mirza@uok.edu.pk 

Received 26/06/2018; Accepted 20/09/2018; Published 10/10/2018  

 

The Arabic word for health صحي is 

synonymous in English language to 

“weight” وزن (Khoury, 2001), and a 

cultural link for perceiving weight as health 

can very well be understood, the impact of 

Arabic culture and values on a random 

Pakistani cannot be denied under any 

circumstances. Obesity is a major concern, 

in adults and more so in children. Pakistan 

is going through a transitional phase for 

some decades whereby changes are coming 

across in lifestyles, family structures, 

incomes, a new set of stresses, rural to 

urban shift, migrants’ influx making the 

transition all the more complex when 

compared to other countries (Nanan, 2002).  

Being overweight and being obese is 

associated with an increased risk of early 

mortality or debilitating diseases (WHO, 

1998). In Feb 2000, WHO BMI cutoffs for 

adults being overweight in Asia Pacific 

region were reported >23 while >25 for 

being obese. A 2002 study on Pakistani 

population showed 22% and 37% of urban 

men and women respectively to be obese as 

compared to 9% and 14% rural men and 

women of comparable age group, 22-44 

(Nanan, 2002). The study outlines adopted 

lifestyle changes when comparing urban 

and rural populace, where diet quality and 

quantity together with a much mechanized 

lifestyle can easily be blamed for. It doesn't 

come off as a surprise that urban population 

is at a higher risk of developing non-

communicable diseases, such as 

hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, 

type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, cancer which 

resulted in 63% deaths globally. (David et 

al., 2012).  In 1953 first of its kind study 

showed a higher incidence of coronary 

heart diseases in inactive bus drivers than 

active bus conductors (Morris et al. 1953), 

suggesting that an active lifestyle can 

certainly promote a much healthier state of 

the body. Not only exercise to promote a 

healthier lifestyle, but it can also delay the 

onset of 40 diseases (Ruegsegger & Booth, 

2018).  Lack of exercise can be regarded as 

a major cause of chronic illness leading to 

death (Mokdad et al., 2004). Apart from 

BMI, the WHR (waist (cm)/ hip (cm)) waist 

to hip ratio can also be used to highlight the 

fat distribution of the body and body shape 

(WHO, 1998 & McKeigue, 1996). 

In adults, fat is stored primarily beneath the 

skin as subcutaneous fat tissue, where 80% 

of body fat resides (Ibrahim 2010). If a 

person takes in more calories beyond the 

capacity of the body to store it under the 

skin, it gets stored as visceral fat, around 

and in vital organs such as liver, pancreas, 

intestines that in turn release inflammatory 

mediators increasing vulnerability to non-

communicable diseases (Chaldakov et al., 

2003). Some of these mediators have been 

associated with impaired memory and 

compromised cognitive skills (Trollor et 

al., 2012). South Asians as compared to 

Europids have a greater tendency of 

abdominal fat deposition and it shows a 

gender bias, where men are more likely to 

develop central obesity than women 

(WHO, 2000 & McKeigue, 1996). About 

300 gene loci have been associated with 

obesity (Lau, 1997) with an intricate 

polygenic inheritance.   

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Annals of Psychophysiology 
©Advance Educational Institute & Research Centre 

Volume 5, October 2018  
www.aeirc-edu.com 

ISSN 2412 - 3188 
 
 

Faizan Mirza 2 

 

So should adults be the only ones 

concerned? Well, the first link between 

fitness and enhanced cognitive skills was 

established in a group of children (Clarke, 

1958). An increased BMI in Childhood has 

been linked with a decline in cognitive 

functioning (Smith et al. 2011) poor 

performance in academics (Castelli et al., 

2007) predisposition towards metabolic and 

cardiovascular disorders (Ebbelling et al., 

2002) poor health and high risk of mortality 

(Must et al., 1992), suggesting that 

childhood obesity can actually be a greater 

concern than adult obesity.  

In 2000 the Framingham Study stated that 

type 2 diabetes has a strong genetic 

interplay, an individual with a single 

diabetic parent is 3.5 times likely to get 

diabetes while if both parents were diabetic, 

the probability rise to six folds (Meigs et al., 

2000). A United States (US)-based survey 

predicted in 2001 that by 2050 29 million 

US residents would be suffering from type 

2 diabetes, however the alarming number of 

29 million was reached in 2012 only, it was 

then predicted that by 2050 1 in 3 would be 

suffering from type 2 diabetes (Boyle et al., 

2001). A study in 2000 stated that Pakistan 

ranks 8th in the world diabetes caseload and 

is expected to rise to 4th position by 2025, 

while currently having the highest 

prevalence of 11% in all south Asian 

countries (White et al., 2000). 

While most studies have attributed obesity 

with male gender, a 1999 study had a 

contrasting approach, suggesting that urban 

middle-aged women are more likely to gain 

obesity than aged matched men & young 

women (James, 1999) that again can be 

linked with poor eating habits and a 

sedentary lifestyle. In Pakistan, the 

situation of cardiovascular disorders, 

hypertension, elevated cholesterol are more 

prevalent in nationals belonging to a higher 

socioeconomic strata which is a complete 

contrast from developed countries where 

these factors are more common in lower 

socioeconomic strata (Pappas & Gergen, 

2001).  

What can be done? 

In a recent study on adults at high risk of 

developing type 2 diabetes, its prevalence 

was reduced by 58% by extensive lifestyle 

changes where intervention was brought 

about with exercise and diet (Knowler et 

al., 2002). Despite the well-known benefits 

of exercise, most adults and many children 

lead relatively sedentary lifestyles and are 

not active enough to achieve the health 

benefits of exercise (Warburton et al. 

2006). Apart from the systemic benefits of 

exercise, it is known to have an immense 

positive effect on the mental state as well. 

Exercise enhances the synthesis of BDNF 

(Cotman & Bretchold, 2002) causing 

increased neurogenesis that in turn 

facilitates memory consolidation and 

learning skills (Kobilo et al., 2011). This 

was further strengthened by a study on 

rodents where neurogenesis was observed 

in the hippocampus in the group exercising 

regularly, an area involved in learning and 

consolidation of memory. (Gomez et al., 

2013).  

Depression is a common mental illness, 

exercise increases kyunurein that leads to 

an increased synthesis of Kynurenic acid 

that helps in fighting stress induced 

depression (Agudelo et al., 2014). 

Experimenting with rats showed exercise 

enables fighting drug addiction, cocaine 

(Larson & Carol, 2005) and can be a viable 

interventional approach at rehabilitation 

centers. Neurogenic reserve hypothesis 

(Kempermann, 2003)  proposed that if an 

individual is exposed to physical activities 

earlier in life, it would lead to optimizations 

in brain networks associated with memory's 

and cognition, furthermore, a reserve of 

precursor cells is also created that 

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Annals of Psychophysiology 
©Advance Educational Institute & Research Centre 

Volume 5, October 2018  
www.aeirc-edu.com 

ISSN 2412 - 3188 
 
 

Faizan Mirza 3 

 

influences learnings abilities of that child 

throughout the lifespan. In 2010 a study 

concluded higher fit children to have a 

larger hippocampal volume (Chaddock, 

2010). Exercise apart from delaying the 

onset of chronic diseases promotes mental 

health. Studies have suggested 

improvements in cognitive skills in 

exercising individuals (Beiers et al., 2014) , 

lowering anxiety (Greenwood et al., 2012) 

helping fight depression (Kratz et al., 2014) 

, and more importantly delays the 

progression and even onset of 

neurodegenerative diseases such as 

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s (Mattson et 

al., 2014) 

Exercise is the Holy Grail if Pakistanis are 

to reduce the burden of non-communicable 

diseases in the next 20 years, or else if our 

current adult generation fails to 

acknowledge the dangers of obesity in their 

age group as well as in children, the long-

term effects would be anything but 

beneficial. A time bomb wrapped in fancy 

packaging is a bomb nonetheless and is 

bound to explode.   

Conflicts of Interests 

None. 

Acknowledgment 

None. 

Funding  

None.  

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Annals of Psychophysiology 
©Advance Educational Institute & Research Centre 

Volume 5, October 2018  
www.aeirc-edu.com 

ISSN 2412 - 3188 
 
 

Faizan Mirza 4 

 

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Annals of Psychophysiology 
©Advance Educational Institute & Research Centre 

Volume 5, October 2018  
www.aeirc-edu.com 

ISSN 2412 - 3188 
 
 

Faizan Mirza 5 

 

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