General Medicine

» Anthony Lee - What should be done to fight obesity?

Obesity is a health problem prevalent in many developed countries, including the United States. There are many factors involved in the development of obesity and its proposed solutions.

What do you consider to be the most important reason for obesity being on the rise? What do you think is the best way to solve this problem?

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» Alicia Mae Prater - What should be done to fight obesity?

In response to What should be done to fight obesity? posted by anthonylee06:

Obesity is on the rise because the guidelines that define it have been changed to include more people in a "treatable" category. BMI is not a good measure, it doesn't take into account bone density and muscle mass or the structure of the individual. Let people eat what they want...educate about exercise and the risks associated with obesity and family history of disorders such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Genetics have not been able to evolve to select for those suited to surviving in today's world of high sugar and high fat processed foods in addition to the lack of exercise most people get. We come from ancestral lines that worked their muscles more, ate less, and lived shorter lives. Modern medicine has thrown off the evolution of the species and left us with problems that occur with old age and sedentary lifestyles.

The best thing we can do is accept that some people are bigger than others and leave them to live their lives comfortably. From a public health aspect it really isn't their fault - it's genetics for most. Recent research (and I met the researcher, he is great to hear talk) has found proteins in the body such as leptin that are responsible for keeping a person hungry.

Education is probably the best we can do. Along with research to develop treatments that help and not hurt.

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» Anthony Lee - What should be done to fight obesity?

In response to What should be done to fight obesity? posted by aliciaprater:

What's tricky is that obesity is a multifactorial problem. Both genetic and environmental factors all play simultaneous roles. I tend to think of addressing each possible factor rather than just pick one to put all the blame on. It's not only diet, not only exercise, not only lifestyle, not only genetics. It's all of the above. :-)

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