Obesity Factors:
ecology, snack food, lack of movement, inherited obesityPeople have tended to assume that obese people are always responsible for their own weight – and this is not entirely untrue; but as more and more people become overweight or obese, researchers have begun looking for a social answer to this social issue.
It appears that the modern, Western lifestyle creates a higher risk of obesity. Fewer and fewer people work in manual jobs these days. Manual work has been a primary source of physical exercise for most of our history, and it has now mostly gone and not been replaced. As could be expected, this has taken its toll on our waistlines. Equally, high-energy snack food is everywhere – it's easy, cheap and freely available. Many people do not take lunch breaks from work, but sit at their desks and snack on crisps and chocolate throughout the day. There is even some evidence to suggest that, these days, we are enjoying much larger portions when we do eat.
Researchers at Imperial College London have isolated the GAD2 gene, and believe that it may play some part in encouraging weight gain. There are known to be two types of the gene: a 'protective' form which reduces the appetite and is found in thinner or underweight people, and a form which increases the appetite and is usually found in overweight or obese people.