# Why Are We So Fat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 22, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917 "2009-02-22T03:59:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/141 "2009-03-01T21:39:03Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Dieting and exercise does work long term, but only for a very small minority. And we really don’t even know why it works for them. The NWCR has about 5000 members, and in america alone about 200 million have gone on diets at one time or another. > > If we can figure out how to get people to lose weight and keep it off that is realistic and workable, great. Could you define what you mean by dieting? If you are talking about ‘diets’ in the sense of reducing calories by some fad diet such as the Soup Diet, or the Krispy Kreme Diet, etc. then I would agree that it doesn’t work long term. Anyone who goes down that path I agree is headed for disaster. If you are saying that ‘dieting’ in terms of taking a well balanced approach to food with moderate portions and moderate exercise then I would disagree with you. The study you cited discussed ‘diets’ and not eating sensibly–they are very different things. So could you define what you mean by dieting? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/142 "2009-03-01T22:37:43Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > [http://www.physorg.com/news94906931.html](http://www.physorg.com/news94906931.html) > lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back," said Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study. “We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people.” > > “We asked what evidence is there that dieting works in the long term, and found that the evidence shows the opposite” Tomiyama said. “Diets don’t work in the long term” and “Virtually nobody can voluntarily change their weight long term” are two very different statements. It seems pretty clear there are two ways that “diet” is being used - one is to temporarily change your eating habits, usually until you hit a goal weight. This is not the “diet” that people in this thread are talking about. They’re talking about sustainable, _permanent_ changes in diet and lifestyle. This is from your own article: > [@](#): > > “Eating in moderation is a good idea for everybody, and so is regular exercise,” Mann said. “That is not what we looked at in this study. Exercise may well be the key factor leading to sustained weight loss. Studies consistently find that people who reported the most exercise also had the most weight loss.” ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/143 "2009-03-01T22:51:36Z")
Right. Because if you go back to the environment in which our kind evolved, the amount of physical activity required to obtain fatty or sugary foods was many multiples of what’s required of us today. You will most likely remain thin and fit if you follow these limitations: You can eat all the fatty stuff you can catch. That’s not much, and you expend a lot of energy to do so. You can eat all the sweet stuff you can find – in nature, not in a store. It’s not very much – ripe fruit in season, boiled tree sap, honey (if you are willing to risk bee stings). Our life today is the opposite. What all these studies are saying is simply to go back to our roots: eat less fat, eat less sugar, engage in more physical activity. It’s oh, so simple. And oh, so difficult to do when you have a desk job, sit all day long and need to force yourself to run nowhere on a treadmill when you really want to do the opposite. When all those fatty and sweet things are there for the taking and millenia of evolution is telling you that you should eat them. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelJohnBertrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dfb087/32.png) [@MichaelJohnBertrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelJohnBertrand)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/144 "2009-03-01T23:57:46Z")
Nobody is disputing the fact that **IF** you reduce your caloric intake and **IF** you increase your activity level, you **WILL** lose weight. What we’re talking about is whether merely telling people to do that is an effective way to combat the public health problem of obesity. The answer, as **Wesley Clark** has shown, is a resounding “no”. It doesn’t work. It’s about as effective as telling addicts “Just stop doing drugs, geez!”. No doubt, if an alcoholic stops drinking, or if a smoker stops smoking, they will become a lot healthier and be a lot better off. But somehow, just telling them “hey, stop doing that!” is not effective. And yet, people seem to think that we obese people could stop any time we wanted. It’s just a matter of “willpower”, after all, right? And we all have infinite willpower, right? Tell that to the gang smoking outside the bar next time you go. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/145 "2009-03-03T16:02:33Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > True, but remember that these things work over large groups and over looooong periods of time. Natural selection doesn’t remove every possible maladaptation, or every lingering gene that might carry it. It’s also possible that the people of whom you speak have also inherited – or learned – more self control. True…but if that’s the case, does that necessarily mean that some people are obese because of evolution? Maybe they’re just an exception as well. I always was wondering–is our perception of normal getting skewed? I was on another board reading about how it’s hard for normal women to find clothes someone talked about their problems as a 5’1/150 pound woman and said that they were in fact smaller than the average. In what world is that smaller than average? Or is it just me? ---
**Author:** ![TooSchoolforCool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tooschoolforcool/32/19621_2.png) [@TooSchoolforCool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TooSchoolforCool)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/146 "2009-03-03T16:16:32Z")
> [@Gaudere](#): > > [Moderator Hat ON] > > Also, **Seven** , don’t say Everyone, let’s NOT make this personal. > > [Moderator Hat OFF] How can it not be personal??? The thread title implies that I’m fat. I am not! I’m not! No! ::sniffle:: (just kidding, of course… I’m actually in the best shape of my life atm!) ---
**Author:** ![TooSchoolforCool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tooschoolforcool/32/19621_2.png) [@TooSchoolforCool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TooSchoolforCool)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/147 "2009-03-03T16:18:52Z")
> [@Kayeby](#): > > They’re talking about sustainable, _permanent_ changes in diet and lifestyle. The problem is that making those changes “sustainable” many not be in the realm of possibility for many people. They’ve found, for instance, that many people hit a period at six months into a major change in weight diet and lifestyle where they get utterly absurd cravings and urges to binge that are very hard to resist. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/148 "2009-03-03T17:56:38Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > True…but if that’s the case, does that necessarily mean that some people are obese because of evolution? Maybe they’re just an exception as well. > > I always was wondering–is our perception of normal getting skewed? I was on another board reading about how it’s hard for normal women to find clothes someone talked about their problems as a 5’1/150 pound woman and said that they were in fact smaller than the average. In what world is that smaller than average? Or is it just me? Well, that person is \*shorter \*than the average. IMHO some people are obese because their bodies are very efficient and use less fuel than average which, as has been stated numerous times would have been an advantage in times of famine. Most of us who are fat are not suffering from any malady but are simply too sedentary and eat too much of the wrong things. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/149 "2009-03-03T17:58:30Z")
> [@TooSchoolforCool](#): > > The problem is that making those changes “sustainable” many not be in the realm of possibility for many people. > > They’ve found, for instance, that many people hit a period at six months into a major change in weight diet and lifestyle where they get utterly absurd cravings and urges to binge that are very hard to resist. All too true, in my own experience. And if you try to change gradually, the results are so subtle and slow in appearing, you can easily get discouraged and go back to eating doughnuts for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelJohnBertrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dfb087/32.png) [@MichaelJohnBertrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelJohnBertrand)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/150 "2009-03-04T03:59:27Z")
> [@TooSchoolforCool](#): > > How can it not be personal??? > > The thread title implies that I’m fat. > > I am not! I’m not! No! > > ::sniffle:: > > (just kidding, of course… I’m actually in the best shape of my life atm!) Oooh, which shape is the best shape? Personally, I like bisected rhomboids… ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/151 "2009-03-04T17:56:57Z")
A friend of mine always says, “I \*am \*in shape. Round is a shape.” ---
**Author:** ![MichaelJohnBertrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dfb087/32.png) [@MichaelJohnBertrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelJohnBertrand)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917/152 "2009-03-04T20:58:42Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > A friend of mine always says, “I \*am \*in shape. Round is a shape.” Exactly! And much easier to achieve than the other shapes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-so-fat/486917.md?page=7)