Interesting study about weight gain

Noreenmarie1234

A study of experimental starvation does not seem very attractive, but an experiment on overeating might sound appealing to many people. Ethan Allen Sims and his associates (Sims, 1974, 1976; Sims et al., 1973; Sims & Horton, 1968) found a group of people who should have been especially interested and appreciative—prisoners. Inmates at the Vermont State Prison volunteered to gain 20 to 30 pounds as part of an experiment on overeating. Sims’s interest was analogous to Keys’s an understanding of the physical and psychological components of overeating. Special living arrangements were made for these prisoners, including plentiful and delicious food. In addition, the experiment included a restriction of physical activity to make weight gain easier.
Increased calories and decreased physical activity would seem to assure weight gain. Did these men gain weight? At first they gained fairly easily. But soon the rate of weight gain slowed, and the participants had to eat more and more to continue gaining. As with the men in the starvation study, these men needed about 3,500 calories to maintain their weight at normal levels, but many had to double that amount to continue gaining. Not all the men were able to attain their weight goals, regardless of how much they ate. One man did not reach his goal even though he ate more than 10,000 calories per day.
Were the overeating prisoners as miserable as the starving conscientious objectors? No, but they did find overeating unpleasant. Food became repulsive to them, despite the excellent quality and preparation. They had to force themselves to eat, and many considered dropping out of the study.
When the weight gain phase of the study was over, the prisoners cut down their food intake dramatically and lost weight. Not all lost as quickly as others, and two had some trouble returning to their original weight. An examination of these two men’s medical backgrounds revealed some family history of obesity, although the men themselves had never been overweight. These results indicate that normal weight people have trouble increasing their weight substantially and that, even if they do, the increased weight is difficult to maintain.

.............It was so long ago I have doubt they were accurately measuring caloric intake. 3500 is a lot to maintain for the average male without exercise? Any thoughts on this study? Not sure I am buying it, I'd have to do more research in exactly HOW they went about measuring variables, etc.

DeficitDuchess

http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/152728/Why_Are_Thin_People_Not_Fat_Documentary/

It's been awhile since I've seen this, so I am uncertain; if it refers to your study but a similar prison study, was done & also 1 with modern volunteers (no prisoners), in this documentary; to replicate!

stevencloser

Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »

A study of experimental starvation does not seem very attractive, but an experiment on overeating might sound appealing to many people. Ethan Allen Sims and his associates (Sims, 1974, 1976; Sims et al., 1973; Sims & Horton, 1968) found a group of people who should have been especially interested and appreciative—prisoners. Inmates at the Vermont State Prison volunteered to gain 20 to 30 pounds as part of an experiment on overeating. Sims’s interest was analogous to Keys’s an understanding of the physical and psychological components of overeating. Special living arrangements were made for these prisoners, including plentiful and delicious food. In addition, the experiment included a restriction of physical activity to make weight gain easier.
Increased calories and decreased physical activity would seem to assure weight gain. Did these men gain weight? At first they gained fairly easily. But soon the rate of weight gain slowed, and the participants had to eat more and more to continue gaining. As with the men in the starvation study, these men needed about 3,500 calories to maintain their weight at normal levels, but many had to double that amount to continue gaining. Not all the men were able to attain their weight goals, regardless of how much they ate. One man did not reach his goal even though he ate more than 10,000 calories per day.
Were the overeating prisoners as miserable as the starving conscientious objectors? No, but they did find overeating unpleasant. Food became repulsive to them, despite the excellent quality and preparation. They had to force themselves to eat, and many considered dropping out of the study.
When the weight gain phase of the study was over, the prisoners cut down their food intake dramatically and lost weight. Not all lost as quickly as others, and two had some trouble returning to their original weight. An examination of these two men’s medical backgrounds revealed some family history of obesity, although the men themselves had never been overweight. These results indicate that normal weight people have trouble increasing their weight substantially and that, even if they do, the increased weight is difficult to maintain.

.............It was so long ago I have doubt they were accurately measuring caloric intake. 3500 is a lot to maintain for the average male without exercise? Any thoughts on this study? Not sure I am buying it, I'd have to do more research in exactly HOW they went about measuring variables, etc.

From your quote it looks like they got ad lib eating conditions there, and unless they were told to weigh everything before eating, that means calorie intake couldn't have been accurate.
Especially the part where eating became repulsive and a chore to them towards the end could've been enough to distort their perception about how much they ate if they just had dietary recall as the way the study was done.

Vailara

DeficitDuchess wrote: »

http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/152728/Why_Are_Thin_People_Not_Fat_Documentary/

It's been awhile since I've seen this, so I am uncertain; if it refers to your study but a similar prison study, was done & also 1 with modern volunteers (no prisoners), in this documentary; to replicate!

I immediately thought of that TV programme too! I saw it a few years ago and found it fascinating. I've known naturally thin people who have tried to gain weight and found it virtually impossible - even harder than it is for people to lose weight. It amazes me how precisely the body calibrates this ... years ago when I was "naturally slim", I stayed within the same few pounds for years, through various lifestyle changes and activity levels, just eating what I wanted and not really thinking about it.

KyleGrace8

Very interesting video.

mommarnurse

I mean, duh. Of course when you weigh more, you have to eat more to gain or keep gaining...so of course with the same number of calories, as weight increases, the rate will slow and you'll have to keep upping calories for the same Rate of gain.

Vailara

I don't think that can fully account for it. They were only gaining 20 - 30 lb. That would not cause a 3500 calorie increase in TDEE (many had to double their 3500 maintainence figure to continue gaining). (I agree that 3500 seems a high TDEE to start with).

One thing that was interesting in the documentary was that the thin people who gained weight found it very easy to lose it after the "experiment".

fr33sia12

The thing is with these types of studies, people taking part can lie. Unless they were observed 24 hours a day there's no way of knowing if the participants actually ate everything they were given, or threw it up, if they gave food to someone else so they ate more/less etc.