Obesity crisis in Ireland Mod Note post 1

Dalomanakora wrote: »

It's gas seeing people act the hard man by saying nasty things like calling overweight people the C word, when in the real world, they wouldn't dare to say a thing. Pathetic really

wakka12 wrote: »

Same goes for telling teenagers to wear suncream to prevent early wrinkles rather than skin cancer...care more about looks than health!

Augeo wrote: »

Actual science is conclusive and removes doubt by being empirical.....anything short of that is twaddle.



Why are my qualifications of so much interest?
I thought we weren't in a p1ssing contest?

Human Obesity: A Heritable Neurobehavioral Disorder That Is Highly Sensitive to Environmental Conditions

Stephen O'Rahilly and I. Sadaf Farooqi

The recent increase in the worldwide prevalence of obesity has understandably focused attention on the environmental determinants of this epidemic. Whereas identifying the relative contributions of the factors underlying this recent trend is critical, a comprehensive understanding of the causes of obesity will need to explain why, even in high-risk populations, many people remain lean. Contemporary studies indicate that the heritability of adiposity remains high, even in the face of a strongly obesogenic environment. Whereas the role of inheritance has long been appreciated, only recently have we begun to develop a genuine understanding of the critical role of specific molecules in sensing the state of nutrient storage and regulating food intake and energy expenditure.

It is only in the past 50 years or so, when for the first time in human history the majority of people in the developed and developing world can readily access sufficient daily calories to exceed the calories expended in acquiring them, that those with intrinsically higher set points have manifested their “obesity potential” on a grand scale. Unlike the “thrifty gene” hypothesis, this scenario provides a credible explanation for the fact that even in places where obesity is very common, a substantial proportion of the population remains lean.

...rather than eliciting sympathy for a serious medical condition, obesity seems often to elicit a reaction that might be more understandable if directed at people parking inappropriately in disabled parking spaces or serially cheating on their spouses. The reasons for this revulsion are complex, culture specific, and more likely to be illuminated by philosophers and social anthropologists than by biologists, but it is clear that we have a long way to go before convincing the public and even many doctors that obesity is an affliction worthy of sympathy and serious medical research.

A commonly expressed belief of people who are naturally lean is that, as they find little difficulty in controlling their weight, they are puzzled as to how people who are obese have “let that happen to themselves” and therefore assume that this is some sort of adverse life choice born of moral weakness. Whereas there is no doubt that emotional stresses and other factors can predispose to overeating, it is crucial that we recognize that the drive to eat varies enormously between people, with a strong genetic underpinning for that variability. Because of this, the conscious effort that needs to be made by the obese to slim down to a normal body weight is likely to be far greater than that required for a naturally lean person to remain so. This not only refers to the issue of greater appetitive drive but also to the neuroendocrine adaptations to weight loss that tend to conserve energy in the “reduced obese” state, making continued weight loss harder still (62,63).