Self‐regulation of appetite involves a complex interaction between multiple domains, including cognitive, neural, social, and goal‐directed behaviors and decision‐making.
Appetite and feeding are controlled by two interacting systems: a homeostatic system, which ensures that a person gets enough calories to survive, and a hedonic system, which regulates the pleasure and reward aspects of eating.
Dysregulation of appetite may either contribute to cachexia or obesity. Cachexia causes weight loss and increased mortality. It affects more than 5 million persons in the United States. Clinically, cachexia manifests with excessive weight loss in the setting of ongoing disease, usually with disproportionate muscle wasting.
Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by an increase of body fat stores. It is a gateway to ill health, and has become one of the leading causes of disability and death, affecting not only adults but also children and adolescents worldwide. Study shows that low levels of physical activity are associated with dysregulation of energy intake and fat mass gain over 1 year.
Appetite dysregulation
