# Do you have a theory about why people are getting more obese? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874 "2019-11-23T16:06:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/101 "2019-11-25T20:26:28Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > My question exactly. We can’t extrapolate USA socio-economic factors globally across prosperity levels, so what explanations cover the data? Has consumption of corn- and cane-based sweeteners exploded worldwide? Well, it probably all comes down to this: [The Green Revolution.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution) ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/102 "2019-11-26T02:17:01Z")
People OVER estimate the number of calories they burn working out and UNDER estimate the number of calories they consume when they eat. Burning a measly 500 calories during a work out is quite difficult, but ingesting 500 calories is as easy as pie. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/103 "2019-11-26T03:03:06Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > People OVER estimate the number of calories they burn working out and UNDER estimate the number of calories they consume when they eat. > > Burning a measly 500 calories during a work out is quite difficult, but ingesting 500 calories is as easy as pie. Absolutely true, but the vast majority of people don’t work out _at all…_ ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/104 "2019-11-26T03:07:16Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > That link was an Opinion piece, and I didn’t find any proof for the claim that “more stigma leads to greater obesity”. Is there an actual study that demonstrates this claim? Plenty of studies cited in the piece for anyone who chooses to read it. Those who chose not to? Oh well. OTOH the converse has no evidence to support it that I’ve ever seen. It’s just something that makes bro-science sense: people don’t like being humiliated so therefore bullying is effective to motivate behavior change. Not cited in that article is another study I’ve cited on these boards before as well - teens who experience and internalize weight stigma and respond by dieting are _more_ likely to have [weight problems later on](https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/112/4/900.short) (also eating disorder risk). Yes, across the world there has been a contagion of people eating more calories, and burning less. That is not an answer though. The is remains why that has happened. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/105 "2019-11-26T11:57:37Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > BTW, Food may have more calories but it isn’t because of corn sugar. Corn sugar has exactly as many calories per weight as every other sugar. The real cause is that various types of sugar - and fat - are often added to supermarket packaged food to make it more palatable. Corn syrup appears to be worse for obesity, according to some reports, and it is not just the number of calories, ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/106 "2019-11-26T12:17:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I do have a theory: People are stuffing their fat faces like there’s no tomorrow. And bully-like attitudes such as yours contribute to nothing other than your own ego. ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/107 "2019-11-26T12:46:31Z")
I noticed no one mentioned weight gain due to pharmaceuticals. One example and it is commonly prescribed is: Valproic acid aka Depakote “One side effect of VPA that negatively influences its appeal is weight gain. Weight gain has been found to occur in 57% of adults (Dinesen, et al., 1984) and 58% of older children and teenagers (Wirrell, 2003) treated with VPA. The average amount of weight gained during VPA treatment is approximately 6 kg (Biton, et al., 2001; Chengappa, et al., 2002) and women gain more weight compared with men (El-Khatib, et al., 2007).” > **[Effect of valproic acid on body weight, food intake, physical activity and...](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2753432/)** > > The objective of this study was to identify mechanisms through which valproic acid (VPA) causes weight gain. Healthy participants (N = 52) were randomized to VPA or placebo in a double-blind study. Energy intake (EI) was measured in the laboratory at... Many drugs for depression cause increased hunger. Paxil comes to mind. Another drug is Prednisone which causes increased hunger and fluid retention. All of these are commonly prescribed and some are over prescribed. More reasons, people are smoking and using pot, CBD, edibles etc. I don’t see this changing in the near future. About the time weed started gaining popularity the junk food market kicked in high gear. Naturally this is only my opinion but … There is some truth here. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/108 "2019-11-26T13:16:45Z")
Well, in this society at least, it seems that the food that is advertised the most is the food that is crap. It’s full of salt and/or sugar and fat. Also, it seems that healthier food is more expensive. We are served very large portions in most places, which by itself encourages people to eat more. Fast food is spreading more and more to other countries. Also, as the people in other countries become more affluent (China for example), they tend to eat more and eat richer. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/109 "2019-11-26T13:58:36Z")
- Mindless snacking and oversized portions become normalized the more people there are within a population that partake - Processed food is cheap and readily obtainable - Sedentary livestyles are endemic - Social isolation is leading people to use food as a source of comfort and security - We are awash in marketing campaigns - Stress, anxiety, and depression are rising, leading people to self-medicate with food ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/110 "2019-11-26T14:49:45Z")
there are too many smart posters in this thread I wanted to quote and my computer isn’t up to it. a big YES to everything Monstro and DSeid posted - and of course there is more than one factor. I’m glad someone mentioned drugs (aside from all the antibiotics factory farm animals get) something like 1 in 4 women my age are on anti-depressants and most of them cause weight gain. and the large subject of “gut flora” was barely mentioned. what has all the anti-bacterial soap, hand sanitizer\*, and so on done to the microbiome living in our GI tract? we don’t really know, but it’s not good. \*that crap is everywhere ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/111 "2019-11-26T15:00:44Z")
it should go without saying, but I realized it doesn’t, OF COURSE eating larger portions and, especially a ton of sugar and processed food and much less real food and especially vegetables, makes us fatter. and less work and more sitting. and not sleeping enough. and so on. it’s just that there is more to it than that. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/112 "2019-11-26T17:16:04Z")
Yes, of course there are many contributing factors, repeated again and again by one poster after another, but most seem to feel uncomfortable with the idea that antibiotic use is a major contributing factor - despite the large amount of solid scientific evidence. Antidepressants and other medications too. I think it’s a matter of preferring not to believe, although the facts are clear. If you don’t want to read the whole review paper I cited, at least look at the table below, summarizing **11 large-scale recent studies** on the effect of administering antibiotics to young children, and to mothers in the later stages of pregnancy. > [@](#): > > Results from controlled epidemiological studies carried out in the last 6 years (see Table 1) involving 368360 children (sum of all studies) have always associated early-life (or even intrauterine) exposure to antibiotics with weight gain or BMI increase. It is important to emphasize that such association relates not the use of the antibiotic directly with obesity, but rather the antibiotic being the cause of the alteration of the microbiota (dysbiosis) and concomitant increase in the energy intake from the diet and consequent obesity. > > [Table 1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6287021/table/T1/?report=objectonly) [Full paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6287021/) about dysbiosis due to antibiotic use. Again, there are plenty of other important contributing factors, but this is a major one. Antibiotics change the gut microbiota, which results in increased energy intake from diet, and the accumulation of fat. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/113 "2019-11-27T19:52:25Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > If you want people to be of normal weight again, make food much more expensive and decrease the availability of it. What could maybe happen though is better nutrition education for children. Obviously I want adults to be healthier, and for the info to be there, but at least kids are a captive audience, and will be more likely to grow up with healthier eating habits. Adults are less likely to change, though it’s totally possible (I did it!) Side note: I find it weird how many people are placing blame on anti-depressants and anti-bacterial soaps (lol what?). Drugs can cause increased water retention and increase your apatite, but they can’t make you gain weight from nothing. You still have to adjust your diet, which is something most people are never taught. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/114 "2019-11-27T19:59:06Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > But it does seem to me that we get fat the old fashioned way, more calories consumed than burned. More like the only physically possible way, lol. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/115 "2019-11-27T21:18:43Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > People OVER estimate the number of calories they burn working out and UNDER estimate the number of calories they consume when they eat. > > Burning a measly 500 calories during a work out is quite difficult, but ingesting 500 calories is as easy as pie. While this is indisputably true, it was just as true before the obesity epidemic hit, so isn’t really part of why it happened. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/116 "2019-11-27T21:41:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I do have a theory: People are stuffing their fat faces like there’s no tomorrow. > [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > Life style and eating habits. Hedonism and consumerism. One’s ultimate goal is to satisfy’s one’s cravings and be comfortable. > [@RioRico](#): > > I like the simple Physics Diet: Expend more calories than one consumes. We don’t, so we bloat. We blame portions, sugars, sodas, burgers, deep-fries, snacks, instinct, et al but it’s mostly a matter of self-control. Am I victim-blaming? Yes. Man, this thread has brought out some nasty opinions. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/117 "2019-11-27T21:49:14Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > Man, this thread has brought out some nasty opinions. One usually does not tend toward obesity by undereating and overexercising. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/118 "2019-11-27T22:11:30Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I gotta say, this statement puzzles the everloving shit out of me. So you avoid eating when you’re hungry, which presumably means that you wait until you’re not hungry to eat. But if you haven’t eaten when you were hungry, then how do you ever attain the state of not being hungry? Don’t you just go on getting hungrier and not eating and getting hungrier and not eating and so forth? > [@doreen](#): > > I don’t know how you eat so maybe this doesn’t apply to you - but nobody is saying to wait until you’re so hungry you’ll scarf down your daily calories for the day in 10 minutes, “Don’t eat unless you’re hungry” means don’t eat because you’re bored or just because there’s food in front you or because you’re stressed or just because it’s 6 pm and you always have dinner at 6 even though you had a larger than usual lunch today. > [@monstro](#): > > **BigT** , the “don’t eat unless you’re hungry” advice is a good preventative of obesity. But I don’t think it works all that well for people who are already obese. Because it’s just like you said, once you’re obese, your hunger is going to reflect the calorie consumption of an obese person. Not a non-obese person. I believe he made the comment for economic reasons. His family has been going through some tough times. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/119 "2019-11-28T06:48:11Z")
I’ve realised from this thread that many people have a highly mistaken idea about nutrition and digestion. Many people seem to think that a certain amount of a specific food has x calories - a fixed amount - and that _anyone_ who eats that food will get exactly x calories out of it. This idea probably comes from food labeling. After all, it says x calories per portion, doesn’t it? THIS IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG. From the Scientific American: [Science Reveals Why Calorie Counts Are All Wrong](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-reveals-why-calorie-counts-are-all-wrong/) _Digestion is far too messy a process to accurately convey in neat numbers. The counts on food labels can differ wildly from the calories you actually extract, for many reasons_ > [@](#): > > • Almost every packaged food today features calorie counts in its label. Most of these counts are inaccurate because they are based on a system of averages that ignores the complexity of digestion. >   > • Recent research reveals that how many calories we extract from food depends on which species we eat, how we prepare our food, which bacteria are in our gut and how much energy we use to digest different foods. >   > • Current calorie counts do not consider any of these factors. Digestion is so intricate that even if we try to improve calorie counts, we will likely never make them perfectly accurate. From the Economist: [Death of the calorie](https://www.1843magazine.com/features/death-of-the-calorie) _For more than a century we’ve counted on calories to tell us what will make us fat. Peter Wilson says it’s time to bury the world’s most misleading measure_ > [@](#): > > Differences in gut microbiomes can alter how people process food. A study of 800 Israelis in 2015 found that the rise in their blood-sugar levels varied by a factor of four in response to identical food. > > Some people’s intestines are 50% longer than others: those with shorter ones absorb fewer calories, which means that they excrete more of the energy in food, putting on less weight. > > The response of your own body may also change depending on _when_ you eat. … You may put on more weight eating small amounts over 12-15 hours than eating the same food in three distinct meals over a shorter period. … > > There’s a further weakness in the calorie-counting system: the amount of energy we absorb from food depends on how we prepare it. … cooking increases the proportion of food digested in the stomach and small intestine, from 50% to 95%. The digestible calories in beef rises by 15% on cooking, and in sweet potato some 40% (the exact change depends on whether it is boiled, roasted or microwaved). … > > Scientists in Sri Lanka discovered in 2015 that they could more than halve the calories potentially absorbed from rice by adding coconut oil during cooking and then cooling the rice. … > > Different parts of a vegetable or fruit may be absorbed differently too: older leaves are tougher, for example. The starchy interior of sweetcorn kernels is easily digested but the cellulose husk is impossible to break down and passes through the body untouched. Just think about that moment when you look into the toilet bowl after eating sweetcorn. … > > The message from many public authorities and food producers, especially fast-food companies that sponsor sports events, is that even the unhealthiest foods will not make you fat if you do your part by taking plenty of exercise. Exercise does, of course, have clear health benefits. But unless you’re a professional athlete, it plays a smaller part in weight control than most people believe. As much as 75% of the average person’s daily energy expenditure comes not through exercise but from ordinary daily activities and from keeping your body functioning by digesting food, powering organs and maintaining a regular body temperature. > > Even drinking iced water – which delivers no energy – forces the body to burn calories to maintain its preferred temperature, making it the only known case of consuming something with “negative” calories. A popular expression in English tells us not to “compare apples and oranges” and assume them to be the same: yet calories put pizzas and oranges, or apples and ice cream, on the same scale, and deems them equal. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874/120 "2019-11-28T07:04:45Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > **BigT** , the “don’t eat unless you’re hungry” advice is a good preventative of obesity. But I don’t think it works all that well for people who are already obese. Because it’s just like you said, once you’re obese, your hunger is going to reflect the calorie consumption of an obese person. Not a non-obese person. It does work for obese and overweight people because a lot of the time we eat things without being hungry. We finish our plate because the food is already on it; we take the dessert that comes with the meal, because it’s already paid; we take that snack because we don’t want to offend the person offering it. Combine “not eating unless hungry” with “substitute your most calorie-dense meals for other stuff with higher nutrient density and lower calorie density”, and you can get really good results. Breaking the psychological condition which leads us to eat when not hungry can be the hardest part: being in the company of people who are on your side for the effort helps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-theory-about-why-people-are-getting-more-obese/843874.md?page=7)