The role of health behaviour in obesity

Evans, Elizabeth H.; Ahern, Amy L.; Dombrowski, Stephan U.; Vasiljevic, Milica

Abstract

Obesity is the accumulation of excess adipose tissue (fat) and presents risks to physical and mental health. Health-related behaviours contribute to the occurrence of obesity, and both these behaviours and obesity itself may be responsible for some of the health risks. Additionally, societal stigmatisation of obesity may also account for these negative physical and psychological outcomes. Individual behaviour is embedded in biogenetic, environmental, socio-economic, and structural drivers. Approaches to reducing population obesity involve a synergy of interventions on multiple levels, the majority of which directly or indirectly influence health behaviours. Interventions at any level benefit from addressing the deleterious effects of weight stigma. This chapter introduces the condition of obesity and examines the role that health behaviours play in causing and treating excess adipose tissue. This chapter focuses on outlining the complexity of behaviour as embedded with a system of factors relevant for explaining obesity.

Citation

Evans, E. H., Ahern, A. L., Dombrowski, S. U., & Vasiljevic, M. (2025). The role of health behaviour in obesity. In R. Sanderman, & K. Morgan (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Health Psychology: Global and Contemporary Issues (242-256). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003318026-17

• Online Publication Date: Jan 29, 2025
• Publication Date: Jan 29, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 25, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 30, 2026
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 242-256
• Book Title: The Routledge International Handbook of Health Psychology: Global and Contemporary Issues
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003318026-17
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3527209