Obesity isn't all about eating and inactivity, says an international group of researchers.
Today, doctors often blame America's obesity epidemic on two things:
- too much food - especially widely marketed fast food and junk food - and too little exercise, with too much time in front of the TV.
Researchers pay too much attention on the big two causes mentioned above. I am not saying attention should be diverted from too much food and less exercise neither do I want less attention to be paid to it, but having accepted and established these facts other likely factors are not seriously being explored.
It's well accepted that reduced physical activity and fast food are linked to obesity, but the evidence that these are the main causes of obesity is largely circumstantial.
Obesity researchers should broaden their horizon. Some explanations for obesity which are also supported by circumstantial evidence is being proposed by International groups of researchers.
They include:
-Population, Age and Ethnicity.
Middle-aged people and Black-Americans tend to be more obese than young European-Americans. People from Europe are plumper than people from south Asia but ethnic Africans are the plumpest.
-Older Moms.
American women are giving birth at older and older ages. There evidence that the older a woman is when she gives birth, the higher her child's risk of obesity.
-Deep Sleep.
Getting too little sleep can increase body weight. Today's American get less shut-eye than ever
-Medicine.
Many different drugs - including contraceptives, steroid hormones, diabetes drugs, some antidepressants, and blood pressure drugs - can cause weight gain. Use of these drugs is on the upswing.
D. T Mark
