Hunger And Its Factors

Hunger And Its Factors

Introduction

Hunger is sensation of needing food. It is the fact that hunger always win in every circumstances. If a person feels hunger, it becomes difficult for it to avoid taking food. Hunger is the motivational force that is derived by many factors. Some of the factors are biological where as some factors are related to psychological and environmental. These factors have great influence upon the hungry feeling of person. People always do not eat because they need food; however, they take food because they feel hungry by other factors. When the person is hungry physiologically, it intakes food in both larger quantity and larger calories without controlling itself because the brains stimulates the desire to fulfill completely the hunger need. The person goes beyond the normal appetite. There is association between the sensation of hunger and the extreme desire for food.

Most of the researchers believe that eating behaviors are very complicated to understand. Many studies have been conducted and many theories have been developed related to hunger and its driving forces. Researchers believe that in addition to physiological forces there are certain psychological forces that control the hunger needs.

Discussion

The feeling of hunger is a primary motivation According to Takako H., (1997), there is firm belief that hunger is derived due to biological factors. The author believes that besides the physiology factor that derives hungry motivation, there are also psychological factors. There are various types of factors that create motivation of hunger. These factors are defined below in detail.

Biological Factors

The biological factors that influence hunger feelings in a person involve the genetics, the brain, the digestive system, and hormones which are defined below.

Genetics factor of individual

Various studies have found that level of hunger differs among different people based on their genetic differences. The medical researchers say that the genetic changes are influenced by the weight of the human body. According to some researchers, as the weight of human body rises and exceeds the limit that is biologically accepted, the level of hunger decreases and the person utilizes more energy and in this way the body weight turns decreased again. According to these researchers, the set point of the body weight is balanced by the association between food intake, function of metabolism and energy expenditures. The basal metabolic rate is one of the genetic factors that also stimulate hunger. This is the rate in which the person utilizes energy in its rest state. However, for some researchers, the concept of body weight set point is wrong. They believe that people can lose or gain weight in order to maintain their body weight set point. According to these researchers, people put on weight when they are more frequently exposed to rich foods in a day.

Brain factor of individual

According to many researches, the changes in brain and neurological disorders stimulate the motivation for hunger. They found three major areas of brain that play important role in stimulating hunger. These areas involve the lateral hypothalamus, the ventromedial ...