5 ms·

Roughly two out of three U.S. adults are overweight or obese (69 percent) and one out of three are obese (36 percent). In 2008, men in Western and Central Europ

Roughly two out of three U.S. adults are overweight or obese (69 percent) and one out of three are obese (36 percent). In 2008, men in Western and Central Europe had higher rates of obesity than men in Eastern Europe (20 to 25 percent, versus 15 to 20 percent). What biological predisposition accounts for a 40+% difference? https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-trends-original/obesity-rates-worldwide/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesi...

anovikov 3y ago
It's simply availability of food on a systematic basis. That "set weight" tends to grow if not checked.
brodouevencode 3y ago
The availability of food, the quality of food, and the culture surrounding it all.
- deprecative 3y ago
  And the availability of including health benefiting activities into our daily tasks. If we have to drive anywhere that is time, we may otherwise have been able to use walking to and from a place - work, lunch, grocery stores. It's not merely a food thing but I think a lot of folks like that answer because we don't have to contend that we've completely ruined day-to-day society.
WorldMaker 3y ago
The most basic answer is "science doesn't know". Biological doesn't just mean "intrinsic" like genetics or other factors. The important thing is that it probably isn't "willpower", unless you expect US and Europe to have such different cultures that there would be some "willpower problem" you could point. There are lots of easy sounding answers that other commenters have offered. There are lots of complex theories that need more scientific testing. A lot of testing hasn't been done simply because a lot of scientists stopped at the Occam's Razor of "it's just a willpower problem" and stopped questioning anything beyond that. Maybe the results of Ozempic here open up more scientists to questioning whatever is going on. Overall, there's no "smoking gun" yet, to my knowledge. Just lots of questions. I find the blog "Slime Mold Time Mold" an interesting read on this subject. It's definitely one to take with a huge grain of salt, and there are those that don't trust it at all, but it offers a number of investigations into potential theories (and correlations in the data worth checking for causation) involving all sorts of things from chemical contaminations and pollutants (such as PFAS and lead) and other environmental factors. That blog doesn't have any strong, useful conclusion either, beyond that it probably isn't "willpower" at fault, but it offers some food for thought at what variables science may be overlooking with respect to the overweight/obesity "epidemic".
- WorldMaker 3y ago
  One of my favorite partially debunked theories is that it is a carbon sequestration instinct among mammals in a time of climate change and excess atmospheric CO2. There is an interesting correlation among a diverse range of mammals in North America towards overweight/obesity, it isn't just impacting humans. Part of why it is "easily debunked" with various razors is that most of the species involved are human-adjacent and you can't eliminate bioavailability of foods in a human environment as a culprit. But it is still a fascinating enough correlation and another thing that adds to the pile of "it is probably more than 'willpower'". Again, I don't think this theory explains everything, I just find it a fun thought exercise to ask more questions about what is going on.

anovikov 3y ago

It's simply availability of food on a systematic basis. That "set weight" tends to grow if not checked.

brodouevencode 3y ago

The availability of food, the quality of food, and the culture surrounding it all.

deprecative 3y ago
And the availability of including health benefiting activities into our daily tasks. If we have to drive anywhere that is time, we may otherwise have been able to use walking to and from a place - work, lunch, grocery stores. It's not merely a food thing but I think a lot of folks like that answer because we don't have to contend that we've completely ruined day-to-day society.

WorldMaker 3y ago

The most basic answer is "science doesn't know". Biological doesn't just mean "intrinsic" like genetics or other factors. The important thing is that it probably isn't "willpower", unless you expect US and Europe to have such different cultures that there would be some "willpower problem" you could point. There are lots of easy sounding answers that other commenters have offered. There are lots of complex theories that need more scientific testing. A lot of testing hasn't been done simply because a lot of scientists stopped at the Occam's Razor of "it's just a willpower problem" and stopped questioning anything beyond that. Maybe the results of Ozempic here open up more scientists to questioning whatever is going on. Overall, there's no "smoking gun" yet, to my knowledge. Just lots of questions. I find the blog "Slime Mold Time Mold" an interesting read on this subject. It's definitely one to take with a huge grain of salt, and there are those that don't trust it at all, but it offers a number of investigations into potential theories (and correlations in the data worth checking for causation) involving all sorts of things from chemical contaminations and pollutants (such as PFAS and lead) and other environmental factors. That blog doesn't have any strong, useful conclusion either, beyond that it probably isn't "willpower" at fault, but it offers some food for thought at what variables science may be overlooking with respect to the overweight/obesity "epidemic".

WorldMaker 3y ago
One of my favorite partially debunked theories is that it is a carbon sequestration instinct among mammals in a time of climate change and excess atmospheric CO2. There is an interesting correlation among a diverse range of mammals in North America towards overweight/obesity, it isn't just impacting humans. Part of why it is "easily debunked" with various razors is that most of the species involved are human-adjacent and you can't eliminate bioavailability of foods in a human environment as a culprit. But it is still a fascinating enough correlation and another thing that adds to the pile of "it is probably more than 'willpower'". Again, I don't think this theory explains everything, I just find it a fun thought exercise to ask more questions about what is going on.