EVALUATION OF METAPHORS (LIFE AND SELF) OF OBESE & OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE IN COMPARISON WITH THE PEOPLE WITH NORMAL WEIGHT

Background and objectives: Overweight and obesity have become an epidemic and a community health problem. In Iran, the prevalence of obesity is increasing dramatically. While the cost for obesity treatment on health is increasing, accordingly, the presence & nature of the relationship between obesity & mental health is less obvious. Metaphors are found in everyday human thoughts & action; they reflect the person's thinking process& ultimately, affect the performance . In this study the relationship between the severity of obesity and healthy behaviors and beliefs was studied. Methods: 120 women randomly selected from nutrition and diet therapy clinics in North of Tehran. All patients who fulfilled the selection criteria divided in to 3 groups ( obese, overweight and normal weight). Demographic questionnaires were completed by volunteers. Osgood semantic differential test questionnaire and GHQ mental health questionnaire were completed by the interviewer for each participant. After completing the questionnaires, quality control was re-examined and in case of a problem questionnaires were completed again. Results: On this basis, women with obesity have more negative "self metaphor" than the general population (56.3% vs 42.3%) and this women have more negative "life metaphor" (62.5% vs 38.5%) than the general population. 37.5% of obese individuals used negative emotional concept metaphors to describe themselves. Most codes with more negative metaphorical content have more repeat in obese subjects than normal weight subjects that psychological condition is very different in obese people. Conclusions: The findings of this study show that overweight and obese individuals have more negative perceptions of their conditions of life,and the intensity of the negative perceptions increase along their weight increase. Negative and closed concepts of the metaphors suggest lack of freedom and mastery in individuals' lives. Their unpleasant subjective sensation of living and feeling stuck are clearly reflected in metaphors. In all groups there is a direct relationship between their attitude to life and to themselves(- self) and overweight and obesity, and the more negative their attitude is, the weight control is more difficult. Other studies have confirmed these results.