Ten Overlooked Contributors to Obesity

[TheSlamma]

Originally posted by: Legend

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Legend
That genetic rant was against you, not the original post. Saying that 2% is rare is not skewing statistics when over 30% of adults are obese. There's another 28% that are obese for other reasons, and there's those that should have been treated among the 2%. Saying that 2% is quite common is skewing statistics. The only thing that I stretched was obesity being among half the population. I must have confused it with overweight, which is above 50%.

Seeing how you rely on ad hominem, I doubt this post is going to do anything.

Excuse me, no. All I said was that genetics does play a definite role, whereupon you ranted that it plays no role at all and begin telling lies.

What I was implying was that genetics is insignificant.

List the lies.

Time for a biology class.

 

[Legend]

Originally posted by: DaShen

Originally posted by: F22 Raptor
And they can all be controled by moderation and exercise. Who knew?

QFT. No excuses.

I was born with the inability to digest milk (almost like an allergic reaction). What is sad is I love all dairy products. No matter how much my mom fed me, I kept getting thinner and having reactions. I finally went to the hospital as a child and they put me on enriched soy milk. After that I grew because my appetite was huge. I guess it became ingrained in my system to eat as much as possible. My weight was alright because I was a extremely athletic and active kid (my parents not buying me gaming consoles probably contributed to that), but I normally out ate anyone I knew. Things didn't bode well after I got injured though. I ballooned like a bear storing for hibernation.

All I did in that case was change my diet since my exercise was lessened. I ate much less and much healthier and instead of doing a lot of high impact sports, I just decided to walk everywhere (grocery store <3 miles>, church <5 miles>...) while doing my therapy.

Diet & Exercise is the best way to control weight, NO EXCUSES.

Agreed. When I was in 4th/5th grade, I got really overweight. My parents fed me white rice, mac and cheese, soda, ice cream, etc. They kept telling me it was genetic; that other boys in the family had a growth spurt and lost it.

The summer before 6th grade, I got sick of it. I walked 6 miles a day in my neighborhood, and I lost 15 lbs. To this day my parents still insist it was genetic.

 

[Legend]

Originally posted by: TheSlamma

Originally posted by: Legend

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Legend
That genetic rant was against you, not the original post. Saying that 2% is rare is not skewing statistics when over 30% of adults are obese. There's another 28% that are obese for other reasons, and there's those that should have been treated among the 2%. Saying that 2% is quite common is skewing statistics. The only thing that I stretched was obesity being among half the population. I must have confused it with overweight, which is above 50%.

Seeing how you rely on ad hominem, I doubt this post is going to do anything.

Excuse me, no. All I said was that genetics does play a definite role, whereupon you ranted that it plays no role at all and begin telling lies.

What I was implying was that genetics is insignificant.

List the lies.

Time for a biology class.

Time to support your claims. By insignificant, I mean numbers. A few really are strongly predisposed. But not anywhere near 30% of the population. Genetically obese does not mean eating cake and being fat. It means eating fresh produce, whole grains, meat, exericising for years and still being fat. Hell, the original article agrees with me.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: Legend

Originally posted by: TheSlamma

Originally posted by: Legend

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Legend
That genetic rant was against you, not the original post. Saying that 2% is rare is not skewing statistics when over 30% of adults are obese. There's another 28% that are obese for other reasons, and there's those that should have been treated among the 2%. Saying that 2% is quite common is skewing statistics. The only thing that I stretched was obesity being among half the population. I must have confused it with overweight, which is above 50%.

Seeing how you rely on ad hominem, I doubt this post is going to do anything.

Excuse me, no. All I said was that genetics does play a definite role, whereupon you ranted that it plays no role at all and begin telling lies.

What I was implying was that genetics is insignificant.

List the lies.

Time for a biology class.

Time to support your claims. By insignificant, I mean numbers. A few really are strongly predisposed. But not anywhere near 30% of the population. Genetically obese does not mean eating cake and being fat. It means eating fresh produce, whole grains, meat, exericising for years and still being fat. Hell, the original article agrees with me.

But you will never convince someone who thinks they are fat because of genetics that your statement is true. Ignorance is bliss or so the saying goes.

I figure if fat people are only fat because of genetics then Ethiopians must be genetically inclined to be skinny and have bloated stomachs.

 

[IGBT]

Originally posted by: F22 Raptor
And they can all be controled by moderation and exercise. Who knew?

..stay out of the fast food joints. "Mouth feel" engineered foods are as adictive as drugs.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Legend

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Legend

Wow, just look how fast we're evolving! Genetic my ass.

No one has said genetics are the only cause of obesity, but they DO play a part.

There exists a genetic propensity for obesity given the proper environment. Were this not true, we would not have people who, given the same environment and lifestyle as an obese person, will never become obese, while others will become chubby, and still others will become obese.

When you can explain why a significant percentage of the population can lead sedentary lives, eat whatever they want and as much of it as they please and never become obese, you can deny a genetic propensity for obesity. Until then, not only are you denying reality, you are going against every single bit of reputable research that exists on obesity.

The rise in obesity over the last 20 years reflects the change in our environment. That does NOT discount genetics, as the ability to become obese within our given environment IS genetic.

I have no doubt that you are ignorant enough to believe that every thin person you see somehow has more self control than the fat people you see. But you are flatly wrong. The majority of thin people are thin without even trying. Hell, some of them are even TRYING to gain weight without success (think "hard gainers" in body building). And most of them lead lifestyles no different than those who are overweight. The only difference is genes.

I agree that some people are able to eat whatever they want and their body's respond to it better. My brother can graze on soda and junk food and stop eating when he should whereas as if I did that, I would keep eating. In that sense there is a genetic predisposition.

When I'm talking about genetically obese, I'm talking about people that are fat despite exercising and dieting, and that is rare. To people that can't eat twinkies all day and be thin, cry me a river. Neither can I.

OK, then, but we also need to realize that there is a wide variation in this ability to stay thin no matter what they do and eat, and the inability to do so. Some people (like you) only need moderate exercise to remain thin. Others need a strict diet and intense exercise to do so. These are the people who, had they been alive 30-40 years ago, would have been chubby or only mildly obese... but in today's environment with our far more sedentary lifestyles are now obese, and morbidly obese.

So genetics do play a role in all of this. And I am glad you recognize this.

 

[TheAdvocate]

Originally posted by: Amused
Ten More Fat Factors: It's Not Just the Cupcakes
By Amy Paturel, M.S., M.P.H.

The International Journal of Obesity recently published a list of 10 novel factors for Americans? expanding waistlines. After conducting an in-depth review of the literature, the team of 20 international researchers identified several potential contributors to the obesity epidemic beyond what they call the ?Big Two? (think diet and exercise). What are the other big 10?

1. Sleep deprivation: There?s no doubt that Americans are getting less than the recommended eight hours each night. Now researchers claim that too few hours of slumber cause hormonal changes that lead to weight gain.

2. Endocrine disruptors: These synthetic chemicals in the environment disrupt the action of weight-related hormones in the body (think estrogen). And more of these harmful chemicals lurk in the air today compared with a few decades back.

3. Comfortable temperatures: When you?re too hot or cold, your body uses energy to warm you up or chill you out. Make the temperature controlled and comfortable and you lose the calorie-burning bonus. (Since 1978, the number of homes with central air conditioning has increased more than 30 percent.)

4. Fewer smokers: It?s no secret that smoking increases metabolism. The question is: What can you do that also revs up your metabolism that doesn?t kill you?

5. More medications: ?Many medications, including antidepressants, anticonvulsants and steroid hormones cause weight gain, either by water retention or increased appetite,? explains Ruth DeBusk, Ph.D., R.D., geneticist and registered dietitian in Tallahassee, Fla. and author of "It?s Not Just Your Genes."

6. Population changes: America is growing older and becoming more ethnically diverse, particularly among the Hispanic-American population. Both of these groups, people over the age of 35 and those of Hispanic descent, have above average rates of obesity.

7. Older birth moms: Women are waiting longer to have children. Studies show that an adolescent girl?s risk of becoming obese increases by 14 percent for every five-year increment in maternal age.

8. Prenatal influences: Overweight moms, and those with gestational diabetes, have been linked with bigger babies. In fact, one study found that over-fed pups produced heavier pups than a control group, and the heft persisted for two subsequent generations.

9. Natural selection: According to scientific theory, overweight people out survive their leaner counterparts because they can draw more energy from fat stores. ?This might have been true in earlier times, when feast-or-famine was the norm and our hunter-gatherer ancestors physically worked hard to get food,? says DeBusk, ?but not today in a time of plenty.?

10. Overweight people procreating: No rocket science here. When two overweight people have kids, their children are more likely to experience weight challenges than a child conceived by skinny people.

Amy Paturel is a freelance writer for several publications, including Cooking Light and Health, and holds a Master of Science in Nutrition and a Master of Public Health.

Finally an Amused post worth reading. Blind squirrels and all that rot...

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: tk109

8. Prenatal influences: Overweight moms, and those with gestational diabetes, have been linked with bigger babies. In fact, one study found that over-fed pups produced heavier pups than a control group, and the heft persisted for two subsequent generations.

I think they are overlooking something here. The kids are going to get fat because they are in a household that always has tons of food around. So the parents are fat from the bad eating habits and then thier kids get fat because they are in the same fat making environment. I've watched this with families I know. They just eat and eat and eat. The mom cooks huge meals or takes them out to fast food constantly. So of course the kids are going to get fat. Then the kids sit around and play nintendo or are lazy and you have a recipe for fatty fattness.

Completely wrong:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer...PubMed&list_uids=8452057&dopt=Abstract

Does obesity run in families because of genes? An adoption study using silhouettes as a measure of obesity.

A number of studies, including the Danish adoption study, have shown that, in adults, the familial resemblance of obesity, as measured by the body mass index (weight in kg/(height in m)2), is mainly due to genes. The body mass index may reflect both fat and fat-free body mass. In this further analysis of the Danish adoption study, the degree of obesity was assessed by a silhouette score. There was a significant relationship in scores between the adult adoptees and their biological mothers and between the adoptees and their biological full siblings reared by the biological parents. Weaker, nonsignificant associations were found for the biological fathers and for the maternal and paternal half-siblings. There were no relationships in silhouette scoring between adoptees and adoptive parents. The results confirm the results of our previous analysis of body mass index. We conclude that human obesity is under genetic control, whereas the childhood family environment has little, if any, influence on obesity in adults. It is an important task for future research to identify the genes involved.

 

[Vic]

I despise the whole nature vs. nuture debate. It is yet another exercise in pseudo-intellectual masturbation. If nuture were everything, you could teach calculus to a horse. If nature were everything, humans would be born already knowing calculus. Obviously both nature and nuture play their respective roles. The world ain't black and white.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Vic
I despise the whole nature vs. nuture debate. It is yet another exercise in pseudo-intellectual masturbation. If nuture were everything, you could teach calculus to a horse. If nature were everything, humans would be born already knowing calculus. Obviously both nature and nuture play their respective roles. The world ain't black and white.

Well, as the study shows, the propensity for obesity is obviously genetic and therefore nature. The ability to control that given propensity is obviously environmental and learned and therefore nurture. Or is it?