Obesity Epidemic

Professor John Speakman, a biologist working at the University of Aberdeen, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences believes that, “The obesity epidemic has nothing to do with modern sedentary lifestyle and is entirely down to eating too much” (2010). This research describes how our levels of physical activity have not changed for 25 years, however during this time weight levels have increased. According to Speakman, the average man burned 1380 calories per day in the 1980s and the average woman has burned 950 calories a day during the same period. He states that our calorie intake is what has changed by increasing to 3,500 calories, on average, a day.

Speakerman’s mistake in his research is that he is only looking at two possible variables that could cause obesity. He is saying how obesity is caused simply by eating too much and exercise is not enough to reverse the epidemic. You can’t look at someone who is obese and assume that they are over weight because they eat too much. There are many other factors that play into part besides eating too much and exercising. For example overweight and obesity tend to run in families. A child has a greater chance of being overweight if one or both of their parents are overweight. Also some hormone problems may cause overweight and obesity, such as underactive thyroid, Cushing's syndrome, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Another example is, as you get older, you tend to lose muscle, especially if you're less active. Muscle loss can slow down the rate at which your body burns calories. If you don't reduce your calorie intake, as you get older, you may gain weight. There have been experiments to prove that all of these variables are associated with weight gain however they all play into affect with each other making it hard to do an experiment to find one single cause.

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