Obesity is not a psychological disorder, it is a metabolic state that can be the cause of other medical diseases, but it is not a disease in itself.
It is a very common problem because 2.55 billion adults are overweight or obese (1). In Spain, more than half of the population is overweight (2), while 81% of people who diet to try to lose weight fail, and only 24% are happy with their weight (3). Furthermore, studies seem to confirm that dieting eventually causes weight gain (4).
However, both the causes for which we suffer from it, and the consequences of it, are very often psychological. Problems with self-esteem, proper emotional management, depression or anxiety are some of the examples. Being obese carries a social stigma and causes embarrassment and insecurity for many people. Furthermore, Binge Eating Disorder is a very common cause of obesity.
For all these reasons, the ART Project is an initiative focused especially on helping overweight and obese people to better manage the psychological causes and consequences of this condition, which until now has received mostly medical help and a lack of understanding of the psychological difficulties to lose weight.