I Google searched "why are some people fat when others aren't?" in hopes to find some logical, scientific answers other than the typical, "if you're thin, you move more, and if you're fat, it's because you sit on your toosh and overeat, ya big larda$$!"
Ah, but studies have shown that genetics only account for about 5% of our excess weight. The rest is due to eating more and/or moving less.
I'm really not sure about that. There are too many thin people I know who eat all the time and never get fat. They're not exercise fiends, either - infact, a good portion of the thin people I know who eat like pigs seldom to never exercise because "(they're) thin. What's the need for all that torture when (they) look so good already?"
I also know some fat people who aren't overeaters - I know this one family who has two thin siblings, two fat ones, and one average/medium one. The fat ones look just like each other, and not just because they're thin - they have the same eyes, the same hair, and the same complexion. The thin ones look an awful lot like each other, as well, and the medium one looks like the odd girl out.
Great article, Shane! I think I have the party-platter gene, I can be so good, but I lose it when I'm offered food anywhere - I chase the platter.
I have the... "I eat and eat but am never satisfied" gene.
"“I’d love to have that thing where I eat something and five minutes later I’m full, but I don’t get that. I always get overfull when I eat because it doesn’t click in in time,” said Bell, who is almost 40 pounds overweight."
^^I identify with that perfectly!^^ I never let myself get overfull anymore because I stop eating when I've had my set portions.
Also, some people have just tried a diet where they don't snack anymore. I tried it, and just ended up eating twice as much at the next meal because I was so hungry.
I'm really not sure about that. There are too many thin people I know who eat all the time and never get fat. They're not exercise fiends, either - infact, a good portion of the thin people I know who eat like pigs seldom to never exercise because "(they're) thin. What's the need for all that torture when (they) look so good already?
You have to look at other factors, too. My husband does very physically intense work, and doesn't need to exercise in order to work off all the food he eats every day. But when he takes some days off he notices that he packs on an extra pound or so
You have to look at other factors, too. My husband does very physically intense work, and doesn't need to exercise in order to work off all the food he eats every day. But when he takes some days off he notices that he packs on an extra pound or so
Yeah, some people are just very active and therefore eat whatever they want.
HOWEVER, my girlfriend, who I live with and observe, has some VERY unhealthy eating habits... no joke - she asks me to come home with Krispy Kreme donuts... I bring home 2-4 of them for her every day on my way back from work and she eats them ALL, she cooks and eats lots of fried things, has a total sweet tooth, drinks at least 2 cans of regular soda a day, loves starches like white rice and bread with butter, has another love affair with Cheetos, NEVER exercises, and still stays thin as can be - 5'10" and 125 pounds!
When you live with someone, their habits can rub off on you. Her's rubbed off on me and I gained a copious amount of weight, while she remained thin.
I'm really not sure about that. There are too many thin people I know who eat all the time and never get fat.
This is why personal experience is not science, because you don't know what's behind the scene. My skinny friend eats a large beeftips platter with a 64 oz of coke and fries every Friday. But that's all she eats that day. And the ones that eat salad at lunch and then binge at home? Who knows how many portions they ate? These are things that personal experience does not control for, therefore it usually runs counter to what the studies say.
MSNBC is like a depot for junk science. It's what happens when reporters read the abstract and the conclusion to a peer reviewed paper and write an article for popular consumption. I bet Rossner is shaking his head at the article right now (I know I was when they put out two articles on a site I was working at).
The article itself doesn't say anything new, there's some genetic component, but there is also environment. I'd need to read the peer reviewed article (assuming there is one) because the entire discussion about how the genes don't affect how you burn calories, rather your decisions about how much you eat and how much exercise you get comes off as bunk science.
Suzanne is right, as far as I can tell genes are maybe 5%, the rest is all us.
Some people hide their eating. You may think you know everything about them, but they might be stuffing themselves behind closed doors when they're alone. I don't think there's any truth to the myth that some people get fat from eating thin person's rations.
I think that, like most health-related findings, becoming overweight is a combination of genetics and environment. It's not all one or all the other.
That said, I really recommend Sandy Szwarc's blog, Junkfood Science, for some debunking of the science that's often in the media about obesity, food, etc.
Not only is genetics and environmental factors involved in every case of obesity, the proportion will be different from each individual. The statistic that "5%" can be attributed to genetics is a meaningless statistic. Does it mean that 5% of those who are obese are so because of genetics, or does it mean that 5% of the excess weight that any individual overweight person carries is due to genetics. Or is it an "average" of some other statistic.
Regardless, I think it's important to acknowledge that both play a role, and that "blame," is often useless. Environmental pressures and biology are both difficult to overcome. Sometimes saying it is environmental makes some people think that it makes it "easier" to change. Not necessarily so, peer pressure can be just as strong as biology. When I was working in a substance abuse center, I had given the patients an example we'd learned in college.
It is customary for everyone to stand facing the door in an elevator, but also for everyone to face the same direction. In an experiment where experiementors faced the side or the rear, and watched how people unaware of the experiment behaved when they got on the elevator. They looked confused for a moment, then followed the lead of the people already in the elevator.
The next day the patients came in and were all excited to tell me they not only tried it, but that they were astonished that it worked exactly as I had said. Doctors and nurses had followed the lead of these patients, that astonished them. Educated and intelligent people "fell for" peer pressure without even questioning it, even when the "peers" had lower social status (at least in these patients minds). Only one person they said even asked why they were standing in the "wrong" direction (and it was a visitor, not one of the doctors or nurses).
I guess if there's one thing I take away from it all, is knowing that while I am responsible for my behavior and it's consequence, I don't have to take all of the "blame" or feel it is all my "fault" in order to change. Personal variables or personality, intelligence and commitment, environmental variables, social variables, genetic variables -- they're all pieces of the puzzle, not the whole thing.
Yeah - I think environmental factors are to blame just as much as genetics, if not more so, but I also think genetics play more of a role than we give them credit for. Some people really do need more exercise and less calories to achieve the same thing as others can do easily.
I agree with a lot of the things you said, kaplods/Colleen.
Also, some people have just tried a diet where they don't snack anymore. I tried it, and just ended up eating twice as much at the next meal because I was so hungry.
Snacking has been an important part of my success, I have three a day and it definitely keeps me from overeating at the wrong times.
I definitely think the environment we're brought up in plays a huge role in how we train ourselves. My mother was always obsessing over her weight when my sisters and I were little. She would move from diet to diet, I even remember sitting in the waiting/reception area while she signed up and had her first consultation with Jenny Craig. I was 6 or 7. My younger sisters are both quite healthy in terms of BMI, they're skinny, but not overly so. Recently, I've found out that my middle sister has been in rehabilitation for Bulimia. I've also had weight/eating issues growing up, and I think my sister and I learned from my parents about what society expects women to be at a young age, and it was imprinted upon us growing up.
My sisters were really lucky growing up. They both were given gymnastics lessons and things, but I on the other hand, was never allowed to pursue my hobbies as a child because my parents didnt have the money for all of us. I basically took care of myself when my sisters were born. (I'm 19, and my sisters are 18 and 16). I was able to make boxed macaroni and cheese by myself when I was 4 years old!
My two sisters have similar builds, they have the same hair and eyes, and they're slender and can eat anything and everything and not gain an ounce. I am definitely the odd one out. I've been asked a couple times if I was adopted, by my friends at school. I dont have my sister's figures or their gracefulness and composure. I'm the fat sister, and we all know that. So, I really think that both genetics and the upbringing/environment children are raised in both influence how we develop.
There ARE genetically related factors to obesity
Feel free to add your thoughts.
