# Why are South American tribal people so fat?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 3, 2018, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956 "2018-03-03T06:33:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/1 "2018-03-03T06:33:56Z")
Why are indigenous tribal people of central and South America so fat?
I’d like to give an image example, but it would be NSFW. Just google “amazon tribal people”.
The women and the older men are especially fat. They are also mostly short.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/2 "2018-03-03T08:34:01Z")
Is it even true that they are fat?:
> **[South American tribe found to have the healthiest hearts ever studied](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/18/south-american-tribe-found-have-healthiest-hearts-ever-studied/)**
>
> A South American tribe with a highly active lifestyle has the healthiest arteries of any population yet studied, say researchers.
I just did a Google images search, putting in all the words “South American” “indigenous” “tribes”. They don’t look fat to me. Even when I throw in the word “fat”, the people in the images don’t look fat to me. Is your claim really true?
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### Author:  [@Batano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batano)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/3 "2018-03-03T11:15:50Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#):
>
> Is it even true that they are fat?:
>
> [South American tribe found to have the healthiest hearts ever studied](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/18/south-american-tribe-found-have-healthiest-hearts-ever-studied/)
>
> I just did a Google images search, putting in all the words “South American” “indigenous” “tribes”. They don’t look fat to me. Even when I throw in the word “fat”, the people in the images don’t look fat to me. Is your claim really true?
Maybe he means American southern tribe:
> **[Log into Facebook](https://m.facebook.com/AlanaThompsonOfficialPage/)**
>
> Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/4 "2018-03-03T16:05:44Z")
[Buncha tubbos](http://www.nativeamericanfilms.org/mission2.jpg), I tells ya.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/5 "2018-03-03T16:23:41Z")
> [@Contemplation](#):
>
> Why are indigenous tribal people of central and South America so fat?
> I’d like to give an image example, but it would be NSFW. Just google “amazon tribal people”.
> The women and the older men are especially fat. They are also mostly short.
[You](https://images.newrepublic.com/d6fef833395470f357a04823bb3b4876a2d60166.jpeg?w=1000&q=65&dpi=1&fm=pjpg&h=414) [mean](http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/624_351/images/live/p0/24/6c/p0246cbp.jpg) [like these guys?](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-su5p8zU8D60/T-xuPDddkSI/AAAAAAAAA34/sr_ANOtq4Cs/s1600/Yanomami_129_Party-guests_traveling+BL+copy.jpg)
Your premise is entirely wrong. I’ve worked extensively with indigenous people in Central and South America and they most assuredly are not fat on average, and certainly less so than non-indigenous peoples in the same country and especially United States.
Some groups have a relatively stocky build, and some are short on average. Some individuals have a bit of a pot belly. But they are not obese, and the men tend to be quite muscular from strenuous physical activity.
Some of the people in the Google search you suggest are a bit fat, but they may be groups that are now living an acculturated life style and eating a Western diet heavier in sugar and fat than the traditional one, and engaging in less physical activity. They are not intrinsically fat. Of course, older people have a tendency to be fatter than younger ones in most cultures because of slowing metabolism.
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### Author:  [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/6 "2018-03-03T17:45:05Z")
I have many examples, but they are nsfw so I can’t post them here. Some of the ones I saw in my examples were actually obese. They also still lived in thatch-roofed huts, walked around naked, and etc.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/7 "2018-03-03T18:03:08Z")
> [@Contemplation](#):
>
> I have many examples, but they are nsfw so I can’t post them here. Some of the ones I saw in my examples were actually obese. They also still lived in thatch-roofed huts, walked around naked, and etc.
Finding a few examples means absolutely nothing. As a general case, South American tribal peoples are not fatter than any other ethnic group. As I said, I know this from personal experience as well as a great deal of reading on the subject. Your question does not refer to a real phenomenon, and as such can’t be answered.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/8 "2018-03-03T19:10:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Finding a few examples means absolutely nothing. As a general case, South American tribal peoples are not fatter than any other ethnic group. As I said, I know this from personal experience as well as a great deal of reading on the subject. Your question does not refer to a real phenomenon, and as such can’t be answered.
Agreed. Unless the OP can produce some data indicating that “South American tribal people” are fat, the only answer available is: _You’ll have to ask the individual fat people whose pictures you have. No one can tell you why someone unspecified person is fat._
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/9 "2018-03-03T19:52:38Z")
They’re not fat, they’re just big boned. 😃
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/10 "2018-03-03T20:06:08Z")
Now some populations worldwide do in fact have a propensity to be fat. Samoans, for example, have one of the highest rates of obesity in the world. This is due to the fact that they have a gene variant, not found in Europeans or Africans, [that promotes more efficient fat storage.](https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/866987) It appears to be carried by up to half the population. This gene probably was beneficial in warding off starvation during the long ocean voyages needed in the colonization of Polynesia. However, given the modern diet of Samoans it has promoted obesity.
> [@](#):
>
> Obesity rates in Samoa are among the highest in the world. In 2010, 91% of Samoan women and 80% of Samoan men were overweight or obese (using Polynesian cutoffs, body mass index [BMI] \> 26 kg/m2), according to background information in the article.
However, I have never heard of such a gene or specific tendency to obesity in South American indigenous groups.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/11 "2018-03-03T20:07:06Z")
> [@Contemplation](#):
>
> I have many examples, but they are nsfw so I can’t post them here. Some of the ones I saw in my examples were actually obese. They also still lived in thatch-roofed huts, walked around naked, and etc.
Someone can correct me, but I think it’s OK to post if you put it in a spoiler with a NSFW label. Now I’m really curious what you are talking about?!
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/12 "2018-03-03T20:32:12Z")
> [@gigi](#):
>
> Someone can correct me, but I think it’s OK to post if you put it in a spoiler with a NSFW label. Now I’m really curious what you are talking about?!
The rule is that you shouldn’t post a link that goes directly to NSFW images. You can either break the link, so it’s not clickable, or you can put it in a spoiler box.
I imagine the OP is talking about images like the one below, but there are plenty of images of tribal people who are not overweight. (As usual in a Google image search, it also yields many pictures of people who are not Amazonian tribal groups.) The OP might have gotten the impression that this is unusually prevalent in these groups because fatness is more apparent when people aren’t wearing clothes.
[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RtabZ\_FRAXY/maxresdefault.jpg](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RtabZ_FRAXY/maxresdefault.jpg)
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### Author:  [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/13 "2018-03-04T00:30:34Z")
According to this list, the countries with the highest obesity rates are Pacific islands, followed by USA, the Arabian peninsula, and the eastern Mediterranean. The highest rates in Latin America are in countries that have a relatively low indigenous population, suggesting that in the Americas, people of European ancestry are more likely to be obese than than the “tribal people”.
> **[List of sovereign states by body mass index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_body_mass_index)**
>
> The data for international body mass indexes was published by the World Health Organization. The list below refers to year 2014.
> \* indicates "Health in COUNTRY or TERRITORY" links.
> .mw-parser-output table.static-row-numbers{counter-reset:rowNumber}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .static-row-numbers2.sortable{counter-reset:rowNumber -1}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .static-row-numbers2.sortable.static-row-header-two{counter-reset:rowNumber -2}.mw-parser-output table.static-row-numbers...
I haves a prob lem with such lists, t as I cannot imagine any kind of methodology what would assure random selection of people whose weight can be ascertained.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/14 "2018-03-04T00:37:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Now some populations worldwide do in fact have a propensity to be fat. Samoans, for example, have one of the highest rates of obesity in the world.
What is the straight dope on the idea that obesity is prized in Samoa?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/15 "2018-03-04T01:43:51Z")
> [@gigi](#):
>
> What is the straight dope on the idea that obesity is prized in Samoa?
No idea.
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### Author:  [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/16 "2018-03-04T03:05:41Z")
I find this subject a bit amusing, as the common trope here in Europe is that (US) North Americans are fat!
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### Author:  [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/17 "2018-03-04T03:32:44Z")
> [@Ignotus](#):
>
> I find this subject a bit amusing, as the common trope here in Europe is that (US) North Americans are fat!
I was chatting with a Polish traveler in a hostel, and I asked in in a few words how do Europeans characterize Americans. His immediate response was just “fat”, followed by laughter.
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### Author:  [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2018, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/18 "2018-03-04T09:42:29Z")
Here’s it!
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaPzN2gD3PQ)
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### Author:  [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/19 "2018-03-05T19:36:03Z")
> [@jtur88](#):
>
> I was chatting with a Polish traveler in a hostel, and I asked in in a few words how do Europeans characterize Americans. His immediate response was just “fat”, followed by laughter.
I would agree. On trips to the USA, in 1989, 1991 and 1996, I was struck by the high proportion of obese people, and even more so by the high proportion of obesity among young and younger people. The American lifestyle? I saw fat kids in Japan from 1980, and on the TV I see reports of fat Chinese kids. Blame it on the burgers and the other junk food.
And the Poles? The traditional diet is heavy and rather stodgy, and designed to keep you going as you performed hard physical labor in subzero temperatures. You see some well-built people in Poland, and the ladies tend towards bustiness, but you don’t get too many truly fat people there.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-south-american-tribal-people-so-fat/809956/20 "2018-03-05T21:24:45Z")
Indigenous tribes in South America do tend to be paunchy, but often on a body that is otherwise quite fit. I blame a combination of two factors: a lot of starch in their diet, and the fact that they _work_ rather than exercise in the First World sense.
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