Evolution, not just gluttony, led to obesity pandemic

Reuters ^ | Mon Sep 4, 2006 | Michael Perry

[4BoysMom]

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Evolution and the environment, not just gluttony, has led to a global obesity pandemic, with an estimated 1.5 billion people overweight -- more than the number of undernourished people -- an obesity conference was told on Monday.

The mounting epidemic of obesity in children would see many die before their parents, said Kate Steinbeck, co-chair of the 10th International Congress on Obesity in Sydney.

"This is the first generation in history where children may die before their parents," Steinbeck told the conference.

Health experts at the week-long congress starting on Monday said calls for the past 30 years for people to eat less fatty foods and exercise more had failed to combat global obesity....

..."We know this is not about gluttony -- it is the interaction of heredity and environment," said Steinbeck

[teenyelliott]

Wolves and Lions gorge themselves till they cant eat anymore

Let's pretend that humans are a little smarter than the average mammal.

as far as physcial labor, I know plenty of hard working people in the construction industry....some of them are severly overweight.....

A person will still be overweight when they consume more calories than they burn. If you work hard all day, then drink a ton of beer and eat cheeseburgers and fries, and you do that on a regular basis, you will still be fat.

With VERY few medical exceptions, there is no human being who will remain fat if they burn more calories than they consume.

[csense]

I can see an evolutionary reason to overeat.....Wolves and Lions gorge themselves till they cant eat anymore....if they dont eat it the wolf next to them will....survival of the fittest (or fattest if you will)....they sleep it off for a day then they are back on the trail.

That sounds more like reasoned behavior, than it it does evolutionary pressures... ...oh wait, that's right, evolution explains everything, including behavior and reason. Silly me, what was Ithinking

[JCEccles]

More like magik design, Darwin's mantra.

[djf]

Actually, it was a typo years ago, and the editors didn't catch it.

Was supposed to be...

Survival of the fattest.

[Vaquero]

Let's pretend that humans are a little smarter than the average mammal. we can pretend...but when it comes to our mammalian nature, there will always be a percentage that will succomb to any and all temptations (whether driven by instinct or by just plain glutony).

[Larry Lucido]

"This is the first generation in history where children may die before their parents," Steinbeck told the conference.

Yep, that's never happened in history before. WTH???????