Fatness leads to inactivity, but inactivity does not lead to fatness.

[speg]

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/07/07/fatness-inactivity-earlybird.html?ref=rss

Obesity in children leads to lower physical activity, not the other way around, a British study suggests. Physical activity is not the solution to childhood obesity, a British study suggests.

 

[speg]

Wow. Wrong forum! Hehehe. :s

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

1) Why is this in the Apple software forum?
2) I think the disconnection between obesity and exercise was already reasonably well known. You exercise, you fool yourself into thinking you used far more energy than you did, you binge, you gain more than you expended, you gain weight.
3) Just because lack of physical exercise is not the cause of obesity does not mean that physical exercise cannot reduce weight, or prevalence of obesity. Nor does it mean that every 10-yr-old slob who weighs 80kg need feel vindicated for staying on the couch watching TV or whatever and not at least trying to do some exercise.

 

[slugg]

1. Fat people eat.
2. You can eat fruit.
3. Apple.
4. ???
5. PROFIT!

 

[Patranus]

 

[Kipper]

Yet another example of the useless research articles that fills up journals these days. Obesity is a massively complex problem with dozens of different inputs, trying to find the sexy magic bullet or a one-stop solution is an exercise in futility. Of course physical activity is not the ENTIRE answer. But is it part of a larger solution, like a sandbag in a levee? Absolutely.

Of course, I have not read this study. It might just be rubbish science reporting on the part of the CBC, there is a ton of that these days.

 

[brikis98]

I definitely agree that exercise alone won't cure obesity - and the lack of it isn't the cause of obesity - but it's still an important part of weight loss, weight maintenance and overall health.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Eating less and moving more would absolutely decrease obesity prevalence. Like others have said, exercise is not a panacea - it does not cure everything in itself. Obesity is a multi-faceted disease. Isolating one aspect of obesity and saying it doesn't cure obesity isn't anything extraordinary. However, exercise DOES contribute to greater caloric expenditure and better hunger regulation. That, as shown in a much greater body of research, is a very reproducible fact. Through these mechanisms, exercise does decrease rates of obesity.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I love how really fat people had to decide that obesity is a disease because the fact that they are stuffing their fucking faces full of ice cream and crisco has nothing to do with it.

Just like alcoholism is a disease...

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I love how really fat people had to decide that obesity is a disease because the fact that they are stuffing their fucking faces full of ice cream and crisco has nothing to do with it.

Just like alcoholism is a disease...

People with your mindset really set back any progress of the public understanding obesity. Did you know that genetics can determine the precision of the body's hunger response? There are quite a few people who have a dysfunctional or "broken" hunger response, being hungry even when they have taken in enough calories. Others have blunted thermogenic ability. Some individuals can waste calories through heat loss rather than store it as fat while others store energy almost immediately as fat. You don't understand the whole picture. Don't think you do and don't make rash generalizations that everyone who is fat feels hunger exactly like you and just decides to eat a ton and sit around a lot.

 

[StageLeft]

Don't think you do and don't make rash generalizations that everyone who is fat feels hunger exactly like you and just decides to eat a ton and sit around a lot.

I think if it obesity is a disease it is a psychological or cultural one in all but a few cases. That is, unless our genes have changed in the last 50 years.

Much of it is because of "stuffing their fucking faces full of ice cream". But like you said it's easier for some not to do that than others. Do you know my wife actually sometimes _prefers_ fruit over junk food? To me it's an impossible concept. I will go for processed carbs every time. I grew up on an iffy diet with a very regular, want-for-nothing availability of processed sh*t and I will struggle with it forever. I am only ever satiated when I'm substantially overeating and that is the case for many people. It's probably always been that way but in the last few decades we have an ever increasing supply of really damn tasty food that's cheap and it appeals very much to our physiological desires.

I've also met people who just don't seem to get hungry. They can actually go until, say, afternoon without eating because they "forget", so indeed we all are different. Why obesity has gotten so bad is from factors like:

- being fat is very, very accepted in our society now
- a ton of easy to get junk food
- very easy to do no physical activity

Point being to stay slim a century ago was not that hard. Today it is harder. It's still worth while. I'm not fat and have been ripped up before but it took a nearly obsessive amount of effort to do it because it's not in my nature to have one apple as a snack when my stomach is telling me it would rather have 900 calories of vanilla Zingers cream-filled cakes with icing on them (holy crap I love those).

 

[kalrith]

I think the following is an important excerpt from the article:

Previous EarlyBird studies have suggested that the path to obesity is established before children go to school, and is associated with obesity in the same-sex parent. The daughters of obese mothers have a 10-fold greater risk of obesity and the sons of obese fathers six-fold greater risk, but the reverse is not true, its website said.

For one I find it interested that obesity in the same-sex parent has such a high influence on kids, but not obesity in the opposite-sex parent. Mostly I wanted to focus on "the path to obesity is established before children go to school." So much of a kid's psyche is established by the time he's 5. It makes sense that how he feels about eating and physical activity would be established by that time as well.

My 16mo son eats what my wife and I eat, which is mostly healthy. I've been taking him running/biking with me while he's in a jogging stroller/bike trailer. Once he's big enough to run on his own and ride his own bike, then I'm sure he'll want to go out for a run or bike ride with Dad. He'll probably lift weights with me as well.

If we're consistent in teaching him to eat healthily and exercise, then I can see that much of that will be established in him before he even starts school. What I see from the study is that a pattern of unhealthy eating and lack of activity is established in kids at an early age, they become obese, and THEN they try to ward off the obesity with physical activity. When that physical activity fails to produce the desired results, all of a sudden we have an article stating that exercise is not the solution to obesity.

At that point it takes more than a gym class at school or playing softball one summer to make little Jimmy thin again. It takes a complete lifestyle change, and IMO it's not going to happen unless his obese parents change their lifestyles as well.

 

[Pantlegz]

I love how really fat people had to decide that obesity is a disease because the fact that they are stuffing their fucking faces full of ice cream and crisco has nothing to do with it.

Just like alcoholism is a disease...

Thank you. We(Society) REALLY need to teach people personal responsibility. I'm so sick of this bullshit it's not a disease, it's fucking people looking for something other than themselves to blame for their problems and a rational for not changing. They're sick that's why they eat 5000 calories a day or it's genetic they're fat so lets not try to do anything about it. Fuck Society pisses me off at times...

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thank you. We(Society) REALLY need to teach people personal responsibility. I'm so sick of this bullshit it's not a disease, it's fucking people looking for something other than themselves to blame for their problems and a rational for not changing. They're sick that's why they eat 5000 calories a day or it's genetic they're fat so lets not try to do anything about it. Fuck Society pisses me off at times...

Are you serious? Read some research. There are new diseases around that induce metabolic changes and infections that impede proper satiation. These ARE new within the past 100 years. I agree that there is frequently individual input (i.e. overeating, lack of activity), but these people don't WANT to be fat. There are more factors than you realize or care to even acknowledge. I don't know why people get so angry with obesity. Many individuals are uneducated as to how to avoid it. Sure, eat less. Sure, eat better. Sure, exercise. I know people who have done this for years and haven't lost any weight because they're doing the wrong exercise, still eating too much, etc. I find the greatest fault in food providers and educators for having failed to properly stress diet and exercise.

 

[Deeko]

Are you serious? Read some research. There are new diseases around that induce metabolic changes and infections that impede proper satiation. These ARE new within the past 100 years. I agree that there is frequently individual input (i.e. overeating, lack of activity), but these people don't WANT to be fat. There are more factors than you realize or care to even acknowledge. I don't know why people get so angry with obesity. Many individuals are uneducated as to how to avoid it. Sure, eat less. Sure, eat better. Sure, exercise. I know people who have done this for years and haven't lost any weight because they're doing the wrong exercise, still eating too much, etc. I find the greatest fault in food providers and educators for having failed to properly stress diet and exercise.

You blame teachers & restaurants that people are fat? Hah. No offense, but that's absurd. People need to blame themselves (and/or their parents). Are their diseases that can lead to obesity? Sure - but come on, the vast majority of the obese have no one but themselves to blame for it.

That's not to say I'm "angry" with fat people, as you put it. Its just being realistic. Whether they want to be fat or not, if they are, there's a good chance its their doing & that they have the ability to change it.

 

[Pantlegz]

Are you serious? Read some research. There are new diseases around that induce metabolic changes and infections that impede proper satiation. These ARE new within the past 100 years. I agree that there is frequently individual input (i.e. overeating, lack of activity), but these people don't WANT to be fat. There are more factors than you realize or care to even acknowledge. I don't know why people get so angry with obesity. Many individuals are uneducated as to how to avoid it. Sure, eat less. Sure, eat better. Sure, exercise. I know people who have done this for years and haven't lost any weight because they're doing the wrong exercise, still eating too much, etc. I find the greatest fault in food providers and educators for having failed to properly stress diet and exercise.

How prevalent are these diseases? 1 in 100000 maybe? that's why 1 in 3 in Americas are over weight? I'm not saying that there aren't people that don't have legit reasons for being overweight but I've seen way too many fat people that don't want to be fat but they don't want to change. Shit I'll admit that when I was fat before I started exercising again last year it was because I didn't care enough to change. I didn't want to be fat but I didn't want to change my lifestyle until it had gotten too bad for me and since I've decided that there is no way in hell I'm going back down that path.

People choose to be uneducated about their eating habits and exercise as we talk about all the time doesn't effect weight as much as consumption. There is no reason at all that people can't find good information on the Internet from reliable sources about their diet. And I'm not talking about fad diets or anything extreme but common sense. I'm not saying that there should be no fat people but the abundance of fat people and their bullshit excuses for being fat is ridiculous.

I understand that kids have little to no control over what their fed or the quantities that they get and their parents should be held accountable for the health of their children, but guess what. They're fat and have come at accept it and make excuses for it and a majority of the time drag their kids into their lifestyle and ingrain their bad habits on them. Then teach them to take absolutely no responsibility for what's happened to them and blame ****.

What upsets me the most isn't fat people, I think that people should be able to chose to live however they want to. Its fat people, without any other conditions prior to becoming overweight, that don't take responsibility for their actions. Why can't people just say I'm fat because I like to eat. Or I chose to be fat because I'm too busy to do whatever it would take to not be fat (this can be a legit excuse for SOME people). Or fat people that blame fast food for not telling them they're going to get fat eating 7000 calories a day and being basically sedentary. Be fat all you want just don't blame anyone but yourself.

 

[kalrith]

Be fat all you want just don't blame anyone but yourself.

I pretty much agree with this. When I was in high school, I had gotten a bit too overweight, and dropped 23 lbs. in weight my senior year while at the same time adding a lot of muscle. I had some overweight friends who would say, "I wish I could look like you." I told them, "You can. Start lifting weights with my after school 3 days per week, and start doing cardio with me 4 days per week. I'll write up my diet plan for you as well."

They didn't want that. They wanted to complain about how they "can't" be thin and in good shape, even though that wasn't true at all. They just didn't want to change in order to get in shape. They'd rather just complain about it and blame it on their genetics, fast food, being too busy, etc. Some of those things can contribute to obesity, but none of them determine obesity.

The only case of justified obesity I've ever known was with my mom. She had brain cancer and had to take steroids that made her gain about 50 lbs. She was thin all her life until taking that medicine. She took it for about 5 years, and then they came out with a new medicine she could take that didn't cause weight gain. Within 6-12 months she was at a healthy weight again. I'm not sure what the medicines were, because I was just a kid at the time. But I definitely saw what they did to her.

If someone's obese because of something like that, then I definitely pity them. Unfortunately the 1 in 100,000 (obviously guessing) who has a legitimate cause for obesity makes many of the people who are obese because they eat too much and/or are inactive claim that their weight is out of their control, when that's bull.

 

[shortylickens]

I still believe its an overall lower active lifestyle due in part to video games and internet which contributes to slowed metabolism.
Along with junk food and reliance on prescription drugs to treat symptoms as opposed to work which might correct the actual problem.

And I've seen one too many fatties work their butts off to believe its a disease or some sort of thyroid failure.

 

[brikis98]

The idea that the obesity epidemic today is the result of people being "weak minded" is ABSURD. If you look at the stats, you'll see that obesity rates took a big jump from the 70's to the 80's and have been growing dramatically since. Obviously, our genetics didn't change in that short time span, but do you guys honestly believe that a giant percentage of the population suddenly got lazy and weak willed that decade? Do you seriously think that every third human being today magically has far less will power today than people in the 60's and 70's? If anything, people make more of a conscious effort to diet & exercise today than ever before. And yet the number of obese people is astronomically higher than ever before. You have to be completely blind to assume this is the result of some collective failure in self control.

What is the real reason? I don't think we know for sure, but it probably stems from a number of factors. A major one is likely the MASSIVE changes that have happened to our food supply in the last 100 years. Store shelves are lined with far more hyper-processed "food products", the worst quality food is the cheapest, everything has added sugar, fat, salt, livestock is fed a diet they didn't evolve to eat, and even fresh fruits & veggies have less vitamin content now than in the past. I'm sure there are other factors as well, such as changes in family structure & behaviors, but the point is this: there are many EXTERNAL factors that are contributing to obesity.

In other words, it is much HARDER today to stay lean & fit than it ever has been in the past. It requires a STRONGER will and far more effort to avoid obesity. Think of how many people these days have to carefully watch what they eat and make a conscious effort to exercise. These were NOT things the vast majority of people worried about 50 years ago. They just didn't have to. This doesn't mean it's ok to take no personal responsibility for your health today, but the condescending & sneering attitude here that automatically treats obese people as "lazy" is incredibly counterproductive. I'd also add a side note that the "lazy" argument often has cause and effect backwards: becoming obese often leads to being lazy and not the other way around. Think about it.

 

[Deeko]

Nothing is forcing people to give in to the advertising blitz that glamorizes the cheap, processed food. Is there more of that type of thing available? Yep. That doesn't mean parents have to buy it for their kids. It doesn't mean that the average person has to listen to the monthly breaking news stories about some new ingredient in our food that's going to kill us (resulting in everyone gorging on everything but that one ingredient).

There is more cheap, processed food available, and more delivery vehicles for advertising these products. That doesn't change the fact that the onus is still on the individual to decide what to eat. Blame McDonalds and Pepsi if you want, but Ray Kroc isn't forcing a Big Mac down your throat. Your hands are.

 

[tokie]

True, it is easier today to get fat than it would have been in years past. This is likely due to more processed foods, more sitting time (computers), etc.

However, it is also easier today than at any point in history to have access to organic foods, local gyms and the like. The options are there, it`s just that people don`t use them. So the onus really is on the fatty to change their lifestyle.

 

[Pantlegz]

The idea that the obesity epidemic today is the result of people being "weak minded" is ABSURD. If you look at the stats, you'll see that obesity rates took a big jump from the 70's to the 80's and have been growing dramatically since. Obviously, our genetics didn't change in that short time span, but do you guys honestly believe that a giant percentage of the population suddenly got lazy and weak willed that decade? Do you seriously think that every third human being today magically has far less will power today than people in the 60's and 70's? If anything, people make more of a conscious effort to diet & exercise today than ever before. And yet the number of obese people is astronomically higher than ever before. You have to be completely blind to assume this is the result of some collective failure in self control.

What is the real reason? I don't think we know for sure, but it probably stems from a number of factors. A major one is likely the MASSIVE changes that have happened to our food supply in the last 100 years. Store shelves are lined with far more hyper-processed "food products", the worst quality food is the cheapest, everything has added sugar, fat, salt, livestock is fed a diet they didn't evolve to eat, and even fresh fruits & veggies have less vitamin content now than in the past. I'm sure there are other factors as well, such as changes in family structure & behaviors, but the point is this: there are many EXTERNAL factors that are contributing to obesity.

In other words, it is much HARDER today to stay lean & fit than it ever has been in the past. It requires a STRONGER will and far more effort to avoid obesity. Think of how many people these days have to carefully watch what they eat and make a conscious effort to exercise. These were NOT things the vast majority of people worried about 50 years ago. They just didn't have to. This doesn't mean it's ok to take no personal responsibility for your health today, but the condescending & sneering attitude here that automatically treats obese people as "lazy" is incredibly counterproductive. I'd also add a side note that the "lazy" argument often has cause and effect backwards: becoming obese often leads to being lazy and not the other way around. Think about it.

Lets look as just soda consumption, and it's increase over this time frame.

"Daily calories from soft drinks and fruit drinks nearly tripled between 1977 and 2001, rising from 2.8 percent to 7 percent. This translates to a change from 50 calories to 144 calories in soft drinks, and to an increase in calories from fruit drinks from 20 calories to 45 calories."

( http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/17/health/webmd/main644191.shtml )

That alone could account, in some cases, for a majority of the weight gain. Most people I know that are obese easily drink a liter or soda before lunch. going back even further would only increase this %, drinking calories is bad unless you want to bulk, but you know this. Telling someone that's obses if they stop drinking soda and they'll drop 30 lbs and they will just laugh at you, they either wont believe you(choosing ignorance) or wont be able to stop drinking soda. I know it's hard to just stop but it's possible. I was drinking over a liter of soda a day at one point now I'll have less than 24oz month which in the 60's and 70's would be about average to slightly above average.

There are several factors I wont deny that. And while it may be harder to stay slim I think it has been a collective laziness that's gotten us where we are.

And looking back at it historically 50 years ago people walked a lot more than they do now. Now if you're obese just get an electric wheelchair to get around if you can't afford one most stores have one you can use while you're there rather than use any energy while you're there. There was a lot less technology, if you wanted to do something you had to go out and do it typically. I mean there were board games and I'm sure there were some people that just sat at home and played but there were no video games that kids could spend all weekend on rather than being out in the park playing or whatever.

I'm not trying to say that any one this is bad but a combination of all of them combined have made us lazy in general, I think.

 

[brikis98]

Nothing is forcing people to give in to the advertising blitz that glamorizes the cheap, processed food. Is there more of that type of thing available? Yep. That doesn't mean parents have to buy it for their kids. It doesn't mean that the average person has to listen to the monthly breaking news stories about some new ingredient in our food that's going to kill us (resulting in everyone gorging on everything but that one ingredient).

There is more cheap, processed food available, and more delivery vehicles for advertising these products. That doesn't change the fact that the onus is still on the individual to decide what to eat. Blame McDonalds and Pepsi if you want, but Ray Kroc isn't forcing a Big Mac down your throat. Your hands are.

So let me get this straight: there are millions of dollars being spent to try to convince us to eat unhealthy food, millions more spent on every type of media (TV, magazines and the internet) that are trying to get us to change our lifestyle, family interactions, and the like, and still millions more spent at producing the cheapest food in bulk at the cost of all the vitamin & nutrient content. There are literally billions of dollars and countless man hours spent by countless corporations trying to get us to do things that turn out to be unhealthy, far more today than ever before in history.

And somehow this is all 100% my fault?

Now don't get me wrong: these corporations aren't actively trying to be evil and this isn't some silly conspiracy theory crap, it's just the natural fall out of capitalism in the technological era. But it would be silly to ignore the fact that there are ENORMOUS powers working to get us to do things very counter productive to our health. Of course it's ultimately my hand that puts the food in my mouth, but it is ridiculous to ignore the social, psychological and economic forces that guided it there. So again I must repeat that none of this absolves the individual for responsibility for their own health - it has always been that way and always will be - but the attitude that this is "easy" or "simple" or the attitude that fat people are just "weak willed" is completely inappropriate.

 

[kalrith]

I think a large part of it is the surplus of food, rather than just the type of food. Restaurant portions are obviously larger, but that shouldn't impact what people eat at home. What I mean is that 100-200 years ago, people had to work hard for their food. Often harvest would be bad, and a huge quantity of food just wasn't readily available. The generation that went through the Great Depression knows what it's like to not have much food, and therefore many of them (my grandparents, for example) would never consume large quantities of food. They'd have a huge pantry full of food, but then eat one chicken leg as the main course at dinner.

Since then, U.S. economy boomed, manufacturing boomed, and thus mass quantities of food are readily available and can be afforded by the majority of the population.

So, maybe people didn't quickly change into sedentary, food-crazy people in the past 50 years. Maybe they simply have the means to get fat now, and people 100 years ago would've done the same thing had they been given the chance.

Another change is the modern-day prevalence of the desk job. If we look again at 100-200 years ago, what percentage of the population had to be active in order to survive. Compare that to today when the most exercise some people get is walking from their car to the desk at work, and it's easy to see why people have become more overweight.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I think a large part of it is the surplus of food, rather than just the type of food. Restaurant portions are obviously larger, but that shouldn't impact what people eat at home. What I mean is that 100-200 years ago, people had to work hard for their food. Often harvest would be bad, and a huge quantity of food just wasn't readily available. The generation that went through the Great Depression knows what it's like to not have much food, and therefore many of them (my grandparents, for example) would never consume large quantities of food. They'd have a huge pantry full of food, but then eat one chicken leg as the main course at dinner.

Since then, U.S. economy boomed, manufacturing boomed, and thus mass quantities of food are readily available and can be afforded by the majority of the population.

So, maybe people didn't quickly change into sedentary, food-crazy people in the past 50 years. Maybe they simply have the means to get fat now, and people 100 years ago would've done the same thing had they been given the chance.

Another change is the modern-day prevalence of the desk job. If we look again at 100-200 years ago, what percentage of the population had to be active in order to survive. Compare that to today when the most exercise some people get is walking from their car to the desk at work, and it's easy to see why people have become more overweight.

Crazy talk. It's OBVIOUSLY the moral degeneration of society in general that is causing all our problems. Keep your rationality off our internets.