In the September 10th, 2009 issue of Newsweek.com, there are several articles concerning obesity. The main title of the articles is: The Fat Wars: America’s Weight Rage. The article that caught my eye is titled: The Real Cause of Obesity. This article claims that obesity is genetic. The probability that a person’s genes will determine their weight is the same “strength” as the genes that determine how tall they will be. These genes are even more powerful than the ones that determine if a person will have heart disease or breast cancer.
The body uses its fat cells to produce a gene called Leptin. The leptin sends signals to the brain that tell it when to eat and when not to. When the levels of leptin drop, the body gets hungry. As an example of how certain genes can contribute to obesity, a case from Great Britain is cited. There was a young boy whose body could not make the leptin and as a result he was ravenously hungry all the time. At the age of four, he could eat over a thousand calories a day. Once the leptin levels were corrected, the young man’s appetite went back to normal and he is now at a healthy weight. Nothing else in the boy’s eating habits changed. His parents still fed him the same food, but he was no longer ravenous. This is just one of several genetic factors that can contribute to a (pardon the pun) slim portion of the world’s obese population. But, research is only just now looking for these kinds of genetic problems. There is hope that perhaps as we understand more about genetic predispositions to weight issues, there will be “cures” as well. Maybe some of the obese people really “can’t help” being overweight.
The article I quote above is not the only one on newsweek.com concerning obesity. I found one that talks about the discrimination that obese people endure. This discrimination is not just limited to the school yard. It is being seen as high up as the Surgeon General’s office. Dr. Regina Benjamin is President Obamah’s pick for the office of the Surgeon General, but she is meeting great opposition from several fronts. It has nothing to do with her politics or any potential changes she plans to implement, but because she is overweight. Her opposers are concerned that she will send the wrong message.
New research is also showing that as we as a population expose our children and our unborn babies to pollutants and chemicals we may be predisposing them to obesity as well. Author Sharon Begley warns in an upcoming Newsweek article that several hormones can be affected in our up and coming generations that will markedly change how their bodies metabolize food. So, in essence we may be programming our kids to be overweight by our overexposure to chemicals.
The information that Newsweek put out was not limited to just written articles. I also found several photo slide shows. My favorite is this one, depicting how Hollywood looks at obesity. All in all, I found out a lot of great information about several causes of obesity. My concern is that those of us obese people don’t use this as an excuse for not trying to live a healthy life, and my hope is that the people out there that hate and fear fat, will find some reasons to be a lot more compassionate.
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I think that we are an obese nation and that it mainly comes from the lifestyle that we live. From fast food and eating on the go to preprocessed foods that you can stick in the microwave. If they can prove that obesity does come from a certain gene than I think that is great for someone who is trying to live a healthy lifestyle and just can't seem to lose the weight. As for those who use this as an excuse, I find it hard to sympathise with them if they aren't trying to make it right. So I guess I would have to say that I agree with you when you say don't use this as an excuse, but feel for the people who need answers. Maybe this breakthrough will help.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure some science does play a part in determining who is predisposed to the "fat gene." However, as Heather stated, a lot of it has to do with lifestyle. We are a fast food nation and we have gotten spoiled to suburb living. The average New Yorker walks over 2 miles a day. How many of your friends and family around here would you say walk that much? I know my answer would be very low. And the article concerning the Surgeon General is very frustrating when you take into consideration C. Everett Koop. He was hardly the beacon of health, being overweight as well. There is an underlying hypocrisy there it would seem.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that some people are overweight or obese due to genes but most is by choice. If it were strictly genes you would see more obese people in other parts of the world, but you don't. American's are overweight by choice. Most of the food we eat is prepackaged or loaded with fat, salt, and sugar. I decided to cut more sugar out of my diet so I started to read the labels, I was shocked by how many things had SUGAR as the first ingredient. Having once been 20 to 30 pounds overweight myself and slowly loosing it over 3 years I believe in my heart anyone can do it. For me it has nothing to do with how I look, but how much better I feel when I eat right and exercise. Even if you're a bit overweight but you take care of yourself you're still healthier than someone who is the "correct" weight and doesn't take care of themselves at all. As for celebrities, it breaks my heart that American girls try to be so thin. Most of those women are underweight which is just as dangerous to your health as being overweight.
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