Profiling Obesity: Four Distinct Clinical Subtypes of High-BMI Australians

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Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
O'Donovan, Analise
Other Supervisors
Occhipinti, Stefano
Year published
2014
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Obesity, defined as an excess of fat in the body, is a condition with serious and numerous physical, social, psychological and economic consequences. Over the past 35 years, obesity has become a global epidemic, and Australia is one of the worst-affected nations. Over 63% of Australian adults are overweight or obese, and rates have been accelerating by 1% per year since the 1980s. Treatment advances have dramatically improved short-term weight loss outcomes, but relapse rates remain at a staggering 80-95% despite half a century of dedicated multidisciplinary research into this tenacious phenomenon. Researchers have identified ...
View more >Obesity, defined as an excess of fat in the body, is a condition with serious and numerous physical, social, psychological and economic consequences. Over the past 35 years, obesity has become a global epidemic, and Australia is one of the worst-affected nations. Over 63% of Australian adults are overweight or obese, and rates have been accelerating by 1% per year since the 1980s. Treatment advances have dramatically improved short-term weight loss outcomes, but relapse rates remain at a staggering 80-95% despite half a century of dedicated multidisciplinary research into this tenacious phenomenon. Researchers have identified a number of factors that explain this exceptionally high rate of relapse: the multiaetiological pathways to obesity; the breadth of factors implicated in the maintenance of obesity and the complexity of the interactions between these factors; the largely atheoretical nature of obesity treatments; and the inadequacy of Body Mass Index (BMI) as an accurate gauge of obesogenic risk have all been implicated in treatment failure.
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View more >Obesity, defined as an excess of fat in the body, is a condition with serious and numerous physical, social, psychological and economic consequences. Over the past 35 years, obesity has become a global epidemic, and Australia is one of the worst-affected nations. Over 63% of Australian adults are overweight or obese, and rates have been accelerating by 1% per year since the 1980s. Treatment advances have dramatically improved short-term weight loss outcomes, but relapse rates remain at a staggering 80-95% despite half a century of dedicated multidisciplinary research into this tenacious phenomenon. Researchers have identified a number of factors that explain this exceptionally high rate of relapse: the multiaetiological pathways to obesity; the breadth of factors implicated in the maintenance of obesity and the complexity of the interactions between these factors; the largely atheoretical nature of obesity treatments; and the inadequacy of Body Mass Index (BMI) as an accurate gauge of obesogenic risk have all been implicated in treatment failure.
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Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology (PhD ClinPsych)
School
School of Applied Psychology
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Item Access Status
Public
Subject
Obesity
High-BMI Australians
Body Mass Index (BMI)