PSYCHOLOGICAL
Health issues for the
elderly is increasingly important due to increases in life expectancy and
because people over 65 are the fastest growing population. Obesity being one of
those issues account for more than 50% of adult population age 55 and older, (Kuo et al., 2006).
Being overweight at such a late state in life can harbor a lot of health and
behavioral problems such as, anxiety, depression and Alzheimer’s.
Physical inactivity might be the most influential behavioral predictor of subsequent anxiety. Anxiety can look different from person to person. Though it is often undiagnosed, it is a normal illness among the older population affecting as much as 10-20%, (gmhf, 2009). Anxiety is most common among women and come in second in men next to substance abuse. Anxiety in older adults goes untreated due to not recognizing or acknowledging the symptoms. Some of the symptoms include: Panic Disorder, where an older adult may think they are having a heart attack or stroke, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) some may preoccupy with order, while others may hoard items, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) individuals my relive trauma that is 30years old or more and some specific phobias include fear of death, disaster to family and dental procedures. Anxiety is often accompanied by depression, ( Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2014).
Physical inactivity might be the most influential behavioral predictor of subsequent anxiety. Anxiety can look different from person to person. Though it is often undiagnosed, it is a normal illness among the older population affecting as much as 10-20%, (gmhf, 2009). Anxiety is most common among women and come in second in men next to substance abuse. Anxiety in older adults goes untreated due to not recognizing or acknowledging the symptoms. Some of the symptoms include: Panic Disorder, where an older adult may think they are having a heart attack or stroke, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) some may preoccupy with order, while others may hoard items, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) individuals my relive trauma that is 30years old or more and some specific phobias include fear of death, disaster to family and dental procedures. Anxiety is often accompanied by depression, ( Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2014).
Many people in late
adulthood claim not to feel sad at all. Too many seniors fail to recognize the
signs of depression. Obesity contributes to depression. With depression seniors
can experience sadness, fatigue, lack of motivation, energy, arthritis pain,
worsening headaches, slowed speech, seeing or hearing things that aren’t there
even up to including memory problems, ( Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2014).
Obesity has been recognized as an important player in dementia, which is Alzheimer’s. It is known that one of the contributors to late onset dementia is Adipose, which is fat tissue, ( Letra, Santana, & Seica, 2014). Seniors with a BMI less than 21 had a greater risk of developing dementia than those whom BMI was between 23 and 26, (Marcellini et, al., 2014). There is evidence that poor performance in cognitive function in children predicts future increase in body mass index (BMI), (Marcellini et, al., 2014) .
It is very important to
consider weight-loss therapy to improve physical and cognitive functioning in
obese older adults. Preventing and treating medical obstacles of obesity may be
the most significant goal of therapy in late adults.