Medical approach to addictions and obesity

Abstract

Obesity represents a major public health problem, not only because of the number of people affected, but also because of the severe medical complications and health costs it causes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2021), from the 1980s to the present, the global prevalence of obesity has doubled, and this increase in both adults and children makes it essential to delve deeper into the multiple causes that generate it. Several studies have shown factors that contribute to overweight and obesity, including access to hypercaloric food, quantities consumed that become exaggerated and reduced physical activity. More interest has been generated in recent years in explaining this health problem from the perspective of food addiction, so this paper addresses some of the similarities that researchers report and that are part of the rationale for proposing the term "food addiction" and the relationship with overweight and obesity.