4 ms·

Ha -- I made another post summarizing the contents of this paper, but read another poster suggesting that it could be correlated with cigarettes, as nicotine is

Ha -- I made another post summarizing the contents of this paper, but read another poster suggesting that it could be correlated with cigarettes, as nicotine is an appetite suppressant. The authors of this paper suggest that the obesity trend started ramping up in the 70s - 80s and has continued unabated. Sure enough, this is directly negatively correlated with tobacco consumption per capita. https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/m8_2_0.pdf https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06... I'm surprised the authors didn't touch on this -- it's a really thorough research paper. I have to imagine that nicotine consumption (or lack thereof) is directly correlated with obesity considering it's both a neurochemical (something the authors were suggesting as a contaminant), we know it affects appetite (it's a stimulant), and those most prone to smoking are also most prone to obesity (remove cigarettes = more food intake).

netizen-936824 5y ago
Or maybe food companies saw what tobacco companies had done with great success (formulating products that cause continual redosing/eating) The timing is right for that as well. Quite profitable when your customers can't stop consuming your products, no?
nootropicat 5y ago
That's a good hypothesis that appears to be incompatible with the data. In particular, Kuwait and Oman, similar on an ethnic basis, with smoking much more prevalent in Kuwait with a much higher obesity rate. Oman is actually richer per capita so it's not like they can't afford treats while Kuwaitis can. Of course, it's just one data point, maybe countries with higher smoking percentage are indeed fatter on average. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/smoking-rates-by-country https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/smoking-r... https://www.omanobserver.om/article/88477/Local/alarming-rise-in-obesity-rate-in-region https://www.omanobserver.om/article/88477/Local/alarming-ris...
- nootropicat 5y ago
  Oman isn't actually richer, that part was incorrect.

netizen-936824 5y ago

Or maybe food companies saw what tobacco companies had done with great success (formulating products that cause continual redosing/eating) The timing is right for that as well. Quite profitable when your customers can't stop consuming your products, no?

nootropicat 5y ago

That's a good hypothesis that appears to be incompatible with the data. In particular, Kuwait and Oman, similar on an ethnic basis, with smoking much more prevalent in Kuwait with a much higher obesity rate. Oman is actually richer per capita so it's not like they can't afford treats while Kuwaitis can. Of course, it's just one data point, maybe countries with higher smoking percentage are indeed fatter on average. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/smoking-rates-by-country https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/smoking-r... https://www.omanobserver.om/article/88477/Local/alarming-rise-in-obesity-rate-in-region https://www.omanobserver.om/article/88477/Local/alarming-ris...

nootropicat 5y ago
Oman isn't actually richer, that part was incorrect.