Just shortly, because I am really not an expert on this, so debating longly feels inappropriate (it feels like suggesting that I know more than I actually do).
What explains why people are more obese than 50 years ago?
I still feel like there are at least two explanations here. Maybe it is more food and less hard work, in general. Or maybe it is something in the food that screws up many (but not all) people’s metabolism.
Like, maybe some food additive that we use because it improves the taste, also has an unknown side effect of telling people’s bodies to prioritize storing energy in fat cells over delivering it to muscles. And if the food additive is only added to some type of foods, or affects only people with certain genes, that might hypothetically explain why some people get fat and some don’t.
Now, I am probably not the first person to think about this—if it is about lifestyle, then perhaps we should see clear connection between obesity and profession. To put it bluntly, are people working in offices more fat than people doing hard physical work? I admit I never actually paid attention to this.
Maybe it is more food and less hard work, in general. Or maybe it is something in the food that screws up many (but not all) people’s metabolism.
I’m with you that it probably has to do with what’s in our food. Unlike some, however, I’m skeptical that we can nail it down to “one thing”, like a simple additive, or ingredient. It seems most likely to me that companies have simply done a very good job optimizing processed food to be addicting, in the last 50 years. That’s their job, anyway.
Now, I am probably not the first person to think about this—if it is about lifestyle, then perhaps we should see clear connection between obesity and profession. To put it bluntly, are people working in offices more fat than people doing hard physical work? I admit I never actually paid attention to this.
That’s a good question. I haven’t looked into this, and may soon. My guess is that you’d probably have to adjust for cognitive confounders, but after doing so I’d predict that people in highly physically demanding professions tend to be thinner and more fit (in the sense of body fat percentage, not necessarily BMI). However, I’d also suspect that the causality may run in the reverse direction; it’s a lot easier to exercise if you’re thin.
Just shortly, because I am really not an expert on this, so debating longly feels inappropriate (it feels like suggesting that I know more than I actually do).
I still feel like there are at least two explanations here. Maybe it is more food and less hard work, in general. Or maybe it is something in the food that screws up many (but not all) people’s metabolism.
Like, maybe some food additive that we use because it improves the taste, also has an unknown side effect of telling people’s bodies to prioritize storing energy in fat cells over delivering it to muscles. And if the food additive is only added to some type of foods, or affects only people with certain genes, that might hypothetically explain why some people get fat and some don’t.
Now, I am probably not the first person to think about this—if it is about lifestyle, then perhaps we should see clear connection between obesity and profession. To put it bluntly, are people working in offices more fat than people doing hard physical work? I admit I never actually paid attention to this.
I’m with you that it probably has to do with what’s in our food. Unlike some, however, I’m skeptical that we can nail it down to “one thing”, like a simple additive, or ingredient. It seems most likely to me that companies have simply done a very good job optimizing processed food to be addicting, in the last 50 years. That’s their job, anyway.
Scott Alexander reviewed a book from Stephan Guyenet about this hypothesis, and I find it quite compelling.
That’s a good question. I haven’t looked into this, and may soon. My guess is that you’d probably have to adjust for cognitive confounders, but after doing so I’d predict that people in highly physically demanding professions tend to be thinner and more fit (in the sense of body fat percentage, not necessarily BMI). However, I’d also suspect that the causality may run in the reverse direction; it’s a lot easier to exercise if you’re thin.