No wonder people are confused about the causes of obesity......
Options
Replies
-
cerise_noir wrote: »I blame Canada.
I honestly thought this was satire as well.
That only work if you live in South Park.0 -
To me this reads more like a list of "excuses" than causes. Only 261 more, and you can have a new excuse each day! (You're on your own during leap years). I note 'individual responsibility' isn't on that list.
Seriously though - I'm sure there are some indirect, minor effects due to some of these...but except in very rare instances, we all still have to take responsibility for our own health and wellness. The world isn't going to do it for us.
0 -
girlviernes wrote: »I think the problem with the article is that it doesn't really make any distinction of level of evidence we have to support these as contributing factors, I would guess that many of these things are correlations that were found and any evidence of causality is weak at best. Many of these factors may also have fairly small effects, when a few will be the main factors contributing to obesity. So, like you said, very hard to contextualize and potentially adding more noise, which is already a big problem for people trying to take control of their weight.
Agreed. Confusing correlation and causation is a frequent occurrence when addressing weight loss issues.0 -
My cat ate my homework!
(Was that the right answer??)0 -
Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »
Actually, I lost weight around 1997-98, and in the 2013-2016. Clearly Democratic presidents induce weight loss in their second term.
Thanks Obama.0 -
girlviernes wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »girlviernes wrote: »williams969 wrote: »I know that list is in alphabetical order.. but really "Overeating" is buried in the middle???
And How is "Living with grandparents in China" relevant and on the list???????????
Oops. There it is. The only direct cause of overfat. Everything else on the list *can* cause overeating. But they are not direct causes. In fact, many things (external stressors, mental health, etc) often lead to loss of appetite/undereating.
Not to be flippant, but as an obesity researcher, we are interested in "why" people are overeating.
I think that research is interesting, and that it's helpful to separate out the population as a whole from the individual. That is, I got fat (and lost the weight) due to calories in and out being a certain way. There are reasons this occurred personal to me that I can work on/change/be sensitive to or mindful of in the future. But that I think everyone has control over their own body weight doesn't mean that the broader question of why the population is getting fatter has been answered. I don't think we just all started being more lazy or have less self-control.
That said, I really do think the main answers are pretty obvious:
Food is around all the time and easily available and cheap (including the time needed to prepare it). (I think this is the main effect of all the highly processed foods, not that they are harder to resist than more traditional foods. They are not.)
We have culturally lost any restrictions that controlled how much and what we eat. We used to eat at meals and certain other times and not otherwise, and now food may be consumed at all times and increasing even nutrition types push eating many times a day. Similarly, meals used to be culturally expected to take certain forms (include vegetables and other traditionally "healthy" foods). Now, it's just personal choice/taste. This kind of individualist change vs. cultural restrictions is usually earlier/more pronounced in the US (especially since we lack a strong food culture), so not surprising that the US leads the way. (Arguably, BigFood plays a role in this too, since they had an incentive to convince us that we need/want to snack all the time.)
People do not have to be nearly as active on a regular basis (and again this is especially pronounced in the US with our car culture and some suburbs without even sidewalks or stores that you can reasonably walk to, as well as some urban areas with neighborhoods too unsafe to play in).
People are often strapped for time due to work commitments that are relatively sedentary (the rising rate of single parent households, one of the things on the list, might be somewhat related to this), so the easily available (in terms of time) food options can be especially appealing, especially if there is no strong social message that would counter this. (I do think social/cultural messages are important. My mother hates to cook and basically doesn't now, but when we were kids she cooked healthy meals in addition to working because not to would have been frowned upon, she would have considered herself a bad mother, just as if the house had not been cleaned, etc. I see the same thing in the subculture I live in with my friends, who think it's important to have their kids eat vegetables, not drink mostly soda, have a sensible diet, participate in active activities. For them there would still be a social stigma to not doing this. I don't think that's always the case.)
I would tend to agree, with the addition that there is also a genetic component which varies the extent to which we are vulnerable to these factors and also makes it much easier for some people to gain weight (much less drive to compensate through decreased hunger, decreased interest in food, and increased activity) and vice versa.
Yes, I would agree with that too. I think that's possibly why there's a ceiling on the obesity rate and we started to see a bit of a stabilization or even decline a couple years ago (although I'm not sure if that's held up).0 -
kommodevaran wrote: »My cat ate my homework!
(Was that the right answer??)
No, it's the dog. Cats are way too picky for paper.0 -
Been living well and happy since Obama took office. I am my heaviest, but that will soon end with this next regime!!!!blues4miles wrote: »0 -
OMG - you cant take the national Post seriously for any type of news. But seriously....I think its satire too, everything after the first sentence.0
-
http://www.drsharma.ca/100-putative-causes-of-obesity-take-your-pick
Listening to (or reading the bestsellers written by) pundits, one may easily think that the entire obesity problem can be brought down to a couple of factors – sugar-sweetened beverages, fast food, sedentariness, screen-time, – take your pick.
Now, Morgan Downey, former CEO of the Obesity Society on his blog – the Downey Obesity Report – provides an update of previous lists of putative causes of obesity – a list that now included 104 items.
As he is careful to point out,
“The links are not meant to be definitive or best study but merely a demonstration of the interest in the particular cause.”
Given that many of these factors are implicated based largely on observational studies, which by their very nature cannot prove causality, some scepticism is in order.
However, for many factors on this list there is biological plausibility, often backed by findings from animal or experimental studies.
0 -
I'd say most of the research listed probably isn't about denying calories in, calories out. Rather, it is about teasing out the questions and conditions past that, sociologically and psychologically.
Like
Why am I overweight? Obviously, I ate more than my body needed.
Why did I eat more than I needed? I ate a lot, and moved little.
Why did I eat a lot? Well when I spent days eating only high fructose corn syrup, it didn't satisfy that much.
Why did I move little? Well, it was a lot nicer in the house with air condition than outside, especially since I just got fat guzzling that corn syrup and I sweat more now if I'm not under the air conditioning.
etc...
I'm doubtful we'll ever voluntarily have every overweight person go through logging their food as a way to reduce obesity, so there is something useful in knowing what influences weight on a the large scale and that society could look at changing those influences.0 -
kommodevaran wrote: »My cat ate my homework!
(Was that the right answer??)
No, it's the dog. Cats are way too picky for paper.
Damn. I don't have a dog.
OK, I don't mind looking for "reasons" for overeating, as long as they're not thought to be reasons for obesity. I got fat because I ate too much. Maybe I was sad, maybe I was lazy, maybe I just liked the taste. Trying to find other things to do, getting moving, and eating better, made it easier to consistently getting in fewer calories, and I lost weight. But I had to eat less, I couldn't get aroud that. The reasons why I ate too much don't invalidate that I ate too much.0 -
I was waiting for someone to mention South Park.0
-
Octopuses get fat when they eat other octopuses. So, obviously, people get fat when they eat other people.0
-
I_Will_End_You wrote: »This list almost reads like something from The Onion. I thought it was satire at first.
Right? I thought so too.0 -
Here's the condensed version:
1-104. Everything
0 -
williams969 wrote: »Good grief. So, "Eating too much (calories) for one's activity/lifestyle level" is not on the list? Because that's the only reason I got fat (and everyone else I know).
+1
0 -
I_Will_End_You wrote: »This list almost reads like something from The Onion. I thought it was satire at first.
So Much This.
There were things on that list that I don't even know what they mean..... Areca Nut Chewing? I'm scared to google that on my work computer.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »This list almost reads like something from The Onion. I thought it was satire at first.
So Much This.
There were things on that list that I don't even know what they mean..... Areca Nut Chewing? I'm scared to google that on my work computer.
2 Girls 1 Areca Nut?
Ha. Yeah I'm scared.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »This list almost reads like something from The Onion. I thought it was satire at first.
So Much This.
There were things on that list that I don't even know what they mean..... Areca Nut Chewing? I'm scared to google that on my work computer.
They don't monitor us, and we have great antivirus so....
Not nearly as interesting as I was hoping, but it has obesity written all over it:
The chewing of betel nut quids dates to antiquity. In the 1st century AD, Sanskrit medical writings claimed that betel nut possessed 13 qualities found in the region of heaven. It is pungent, bitter, spicy, sweet, salty, and astringent. It was said to expel wind, kill worms, remove phlegm, subdue bad odors, beautify the mouth, induce purification, and kindle passion. Because of its CNS stimulating effects, betel nut is used in a manner similar to the western use of tobacco or caffeine. Arecoline is responsible for some of the effects of betel quid chewing, such as alertness, increased stamina, a sense of well-being, euphoria, and salivation. Chewing the nut stimulates the flow of saliva to aid digestion. Betel nut also has been used to stimulate the appetite.
Miscellaneous uses
Betel nut's medical use is limited, and long-term negative reactions to betel quid chewing are well known. A decrease in positive symptoms among men with schizophrenia was attributed to betel nut consumption.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.7K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 394 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 941 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions