Origins of Obesity Eric Schoen

English 1010 Professor Onwuzuruoha 29 April 2014

Abstract One out of every three chil ren in the !nite States is overweight or obese" #his nu$ber has ouble since the 19%0&s' an isn&t slowing own" (ast forwar to a ult hoo ' an you&re loo)ing at two out of every three a ults with this proble$" *+eight ,oss- #hese statistics aren&t $eant to scare you . they are $eant to $a)e you thin)" +ith all this being sai ' you $ight start to won er" Are we /ust beco$ing lazy an careless about what we put in our bo ies' or is it so$ething $ore0 +hile it goes without saying that a healthy iet an e1ercise are crucial to staying fit' genetics are now being loo)e at with intense scrutiny as a possible cause for this epi e$ic" So if your waistban is getting bigger' can you really bla$e your genes0 #his is the 2uestion researchers an $e ical professionals nationwi e are struggling to figure out"

Obesity an Our Ancestors 3efore /u$ping in to the current ebate' we nee to un erstan the history behin obesity" +hen our early ancestors were aroun ' they ha to wor) har for every bite to eat" #hey i n&t have grocery stores' they i n&t have fast foo ' an they certainly i n&t have elivery4 #hey e1pen e a great a$ount of calories in or er to eat an survive" 5owever' stu ies have shown that they i n&t burn significantly $ore calories than we o now" *(oo 6esearch- So what change 0 Our ancestors ate wholeso$e foo s" #hey relie on fruits' vegetables' $eat' an grains to supply the$ with the energy nee e to get through their ay" #hey woul have ha a har ti$e getting too $any calories' because they ha to wor) har for their foo " #hus' it woul have been very ifficult to beco$e overweight" (ast forwar to our $o ern worl ' an we can pic) up the phone an have foo elivere right

to us" 7ot only that' but the typical A$erican iet consists of processe foo s which pac) an enor$ous

a$ount of calories in every bite" 8t&s no won er our waistlines )eep getting bigger4

#he 3asics of 7utrition Every hu$an being nee s a certain a$ount of calories to function" #his nu$ber is calle your 396' or basal $etabolic rate" Essentially' it&s the $ini$al a$ount of calories you nee every ay if you lai in be all ay" *Sifferlin- :alories are what gives your bo y energy to function' so it $a)es sense that without calories' your bo y can&t o $uch" ;aining weight is cause by ta)ing in $ore calories than you burn" +hen we see obese people wal)ing aroun ' our first i$pression is often to assu$e they eat way too $uch' an on&t e1ercise

enough" 9any of us on&t give it a secon thought" #o $ost of society' it never occurs to us that genetics $ay play a huge part in their struggle with obesity" #his is e1actly what researchers ai$ to change" #he 6ole of ;enetics< #he #hrifty ;ene 5ypothesis 8n the 19=0&s' a researcher na$e 7eel >? ca$e up with the thrifty gene hypothesis" #he hypothesis states that @genes that pre ispose to obesity woul have ha a selective a vantage in populations that fre2uently e1perience starvation" People who possess these genes in to ay&s obesogenic environ$ent $ight be those that AoverreactBC not /ust beco$ing slightly overweight' but e1tre$ely obese"D *Sifferlin- #his hypothesis has beco$e $ore an $ore accepte as the years have passe ' an researchers now fre2uently refer to the @thrifty gene hypothesis"D #his hypothesis helps e1plain why certain in ivi uals have to watch what they eat $ore than others' an why they can see$ingly pac) on the poun s with little effort or lifestyle change" 5owever' not all researchers agree with this hypothesis"

#he Opposing ?iewpoints +hether or not obesity can be inherite through your genetic $a)e up epen s on who you as)"

6esearchers at 3oston :hil ren&s 5ospital con ucte a stu y with $ice to fin out $ore about the genetics behin obesity" +hat they foun was shoc)ing . so$e of the $ice in their stu y ha a rare genetic $utation that actually prevente the $ice fro$ burning off fat calories" +hen co$paring this to obese hu$ans' they foun the sa$e gene was $utate " *#he #elegraph+hile this conclusion $ay soun efinitive enough to clear the air once an for all about the

origins of obesity' there are still the s)eptics" #a)e Er" 6uth ,oos fro$ the 96:' who con ucte a separate stu y about genetics an obesity" She iscovere that participants in the stu y who were genetically $ore at ris) to beco$e obese coul lose up to 40F of their bo y weight through a healthy lifestyle" *#he #elegraph- #his' she conclu e ' @"""challenges the popular $yth that obesity is unavoi able if it runs in the fa$ily an coul gui e future treat$ents to co$bat the obesity crisis"G #wo highly respecte professionals' yet two co$pletely ifferent fin ings" 8t&s har to say at this point whether or not a gene $utation is the culprit behin A$erica&s obesity crisis' but one thing is certain< 8f this tren continues' our future generations will be at a huge ris)"

+here 8 Stan After learning about these stu ies an hearing the opposite viewpoints' $y opinion falls in the $i le" 8 thin) that genetics can put so$eone at a higher ris) for beco$ing obese' but 8 thin) lifestyle

choices affect it as well" As the 5arvar School of Public 5ealth says' @genes are not estiny"D *;enetics of Obesity8 have $et $any people born into e1tre$ely healthy fa$ilies that struggle with their weight their entire lives" On the opposite si e of things' 8 have also $et very healthy in ivi uals whose fa$ilies consi ere a bag of :heetos a healthy brea)fast" 8 o believe that everyone can beco$e healthy' but it ta)es $ore effort for so$e than it oes for others"

+hat 8 ,earne +hile 6esearching

8 chose $y topic of obesity because it has always intereste $e" 8 hear the ter$ @genetic pre ispositionD so often when people iscuss obesity' an 8 was intereste in fin ing out if it&s true . can genes really eter$ine whether or not you beco$e obese later on in life0 +hile researching obesity' 8 ca$e across a lot of interesting infor$ation" (or instance' 8 was always intereste in how our early ancestors ate an how nutrition in our iets has change since then" 8 always thought that our ancestors burne an incre ible a$ount of calories" 8 was shoc)e to learn that they burne about the sa$e nu$ber we o now' an that the ifference was si$ply in our nutrition *an possibly our genes-" 8 i n&t thin) it woul ta)e this $any sources to co$plete $y paper' so 8 was surprise when 8 ha to )eep accessing $ore an $ore research" 8t was $ore ifficult than 8 thought it woul be to fin cre ible sources of infor$ation" 8 really learne a lot by oing this paper" 8 have a whole new appreciation for researchers an how long scientific stu ies ta)e *an research papers-" 8 learne a great eal about genetics an inheritable traits' as well" 8&$ gla 8 chose the topic 8 i ' because 8 feel 8 was able to o a great a$ount of research an har wor) while writing this"