Children Of Alcoholics Prone To Obesity

Author: Alexander Bruni Time for reading: ~1 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

People whose families have an alcoholic tend to consume high-calorie foods to suppress the desire to drink alcohol, which predisposes to obesity ...

People who have an alcoholic family tend to consume high-calorie foods to suppress the urge to drink, which predisposes to obesity, according to a team of American researchers from the University of Washington in St. Louis.

Both alcohol and the consumption of unhealthy treats stimulate the activity of the same part of the brain. Therefore, according to scientists, those prone to alcoholism may be addicted to food, which is especially true for women.

49% of women with an alcoholic parent are prone to obesity, while the percentage of men is lower, according to an article in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Richard Grutz's team analyzed 80,000 people from two studies, in 1991-1992 and 2001-2002.

According to Gruza, both alcoholism and obesity are inherited as a problem, as is drug addiction. The type of dependencies can change according to the environment. Thus, alcohol addiction can be "circumvented", but at the expense of a tendency to another harmful product.

The paper also points to new evidence of a link between alcohol abuse and obesity, especially among women.

The proportion of obese people in the United States is constantly growing. While in the late 1970s 15% of the population suffered from it, in 2004 33% of Americans were affected.

This trend also explains the growing market for obesity drugs. Companies are also developing drugs that specifically attack obesity due to alcohol abuse.

A month ago, a pharmaceutical company won support from the U.S. Consumer Protection Commission for a diet drug that includes ingredients such as naltrexone, used against alcohol and drug addiction, and the antidepressant bupropion. The drug suppresses the "wolf's appetite" and improves metabolism.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration, this will be the leading weight loss drug of the decade for a decade.

Children Of Alcoholics Prone To Obesity

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