Obesity: Boston Or Berlin?

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The key to controlling and eventually eliminating the worldwide obesity epidemic is understanding the underlying causes of the problem in the first place. This article offers some deeply thought provoking ideas and insights into this very serious threat. Broad in scope and exceptionally well written, this article is a great first step. The following are just a few excerpts from the article. I highly recommend clicking on the "Full Article" link to read more. Truly excellent.

• "With a decline in the number of smokers, obesity has emerged as the main source of many of the pathologies that reduce the quality and length of Irish lives. But where does the lack of restraint that leads to that condition originate? The stress of modern living plays a significant role according to new research."
  

• "But nutritional deficiencies caused by an agricultural system dedicated to the production of meat also plays a part. The restricted space dedicated to crops grown for human consumption, as opposed to the area set aside for livestock and the crops grown to feed them, has led to the cultivation of high-yielding but often nutritionally-deficient varieties. The insatiable eating that leads to obesity may be a response to nutritional impoverishment."
  

• "He says increased stress levels, especially fuelled by employment uncertainty have had deleterious effects on dietary choices: “Physiologically, stress leads individuals to prefer fatty and sweet foods, and frequently to consume more calories, exacerbating weight gain, especially in the form of risky abdominal fat”. The idea of a link between insecurity, stress and obesity is supported by the ‘social gradient’ of obesity”: it is most prevalent among those at the bottom of the social scale."
  

• "Illuminatingly, in the month after September 11th, sales of snack foods increased by more than 12% across the United States as paranoia, verging on hysteria, swept the country. The national sense of homeland security was bolstered by Twinkies and M and Ms."
  

Full Article

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