Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 182 posts

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#141

Post by collyw »

citeguised wrote: post #80

Oh, so the laws of physics changed? Wow! No but seriously, this is a terrible article. As soon as you read »…a professor of _kinesiology_ and health science…« you know the statements are coming from people who believe in esoteric pseudoscience. If your burn more energy than you take in, you lose weight. Everything else doesn't make sense. You can get fat by eating 5000 calories worth of paprika every day. Statements…

Why the dismissal of kinesiology? It seems to be closely related to what you say in the next sentence: "If your burn more energy than you take in, you lose weight".

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#142

Post by greatthanks »

Erwin wrote: post #114
greatthanks wrote: post #113

The actual conclusion is hidden in the middle of the text: eat less meat First of all b/c its contribution to health is doubtable in general and at current times in particular.

That's not what I got out out if; they mentioned: avoid chemicals in food or packaging (i.e. eat organic - no antibiotic/hormone laden meat) - avoid artificial sweeteners - avoid antidepressant and unnecessary medication. Meat is fine, as long as you don't eat something too industrial.

no - (red) meat is not fine:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=%22red+meat%22+site%3Anature.com

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#143

Post by mithras »

Litost wrote: post #108
jensen123 wrote: post #98

I seem to gain weight when I eat wheat. When I eliminate wheat, my weight is stable. I found a study about how wheat interferes with leptin (the hormone that makes us feel full): http://www.biochemj.org/content/410/3/595 I think I've read several places that the wheat we eat today is significantly different from the wheat people ate in the old days. If I remember correctly, our wheat contains much more gluten, since…

I was curious about this, as a relation has gluten intolerance. This reckons that the gluten content of wheat hasn't really changed: http://nogluten-noproblem.com/2014/03/has-the-gluten-content... And entertainingly this reckons increasingly industrialy generated wheat is now so devoid of any nutrients, even pigs won't eat it? http://www.grainstorm.com/pages/modern-wheat Is it just me or is it becoming increasingly m…

I have the same issue. So much FUD articles around on nutrition. Sticking to scientific studies works but it's a lot more effort.

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#144

Post by cellshade »

maxerickson wrote: post #134
mattlutze wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They found a very surprising correlation: A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher. In other words, people today are about 10 percent heavier than people were in the 1980s, even if they follow the exact same…

It can still be explained by people eating more. Take a 1980 individual that had been eating a bmi23 diet and start feeding them a bmi26 level of calories and they will probably gain weight. Take a 2015 individual's diet from bmi26 to bmi23 and they will probably lose weight.

It says the same number of Calories in the post directly above.

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#145

Post by netcan »

saiya-jin wrote: post #140
netcan wrote: post #107

I have no particular expertise in this area, but I've been making the "we don't know why people are fat" argument to whoever will listen for a while. Doctors (socially, not at an appointment FWIW), academics… I'm actually quite surprised how often they've been thinking along the same lines and/or they are convinced by the general idea. basically: People have been getting fatter, to pathological levels for quite a whi…

it ain't that hard, and it actually makes sense. i can take a look in my own family and it's apparent. answer is - we became lazy, so slowly that many actually think that nothing changed. sample job you mention - carpenter now doesn't do as much physical work as he used do do 500 years ago. the ones who don't use modern approach, they are skinny, muscular athlete-looking types, even if they are 50-60 years old. most…

I'm not talking about 500 years ago, I am talking about 25 or 50 years ago.

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#146

Post by saiya-jin »

marincounty wrote: post #106

I'm kind of tired of these studies. They don't know why we are fatter. Personally, I think it's a lot of factors, and maybe even a virus? That aside, moderate exercise has so many positive benefits, why not do a little. I have no idea if it helps lose weight, but working up a slight sweat daily, has helped me greatly over the years. Not so much with weight, but psychologically. Yes--it's been my major drug since 8th…

nonono. no. you don't get it. we need to find something, someone else evil to blame. it's not us, cannot be us, we're perfect, and we won't change just because it makes sense.

It's like junk food is a complete mystery for last 20 years, and we don't have a free will and we are not actually choosing what we buy or eat. the fact that sweet stuff is not healthy was known to me as a kid 25 years ago, without all the science. Everybody knew it.

I'll say something many won't like - people got weak, not only physically, but mentally. We cannot handle pain that was common before, we frown upon hard physical work, because its well... hard. We seek professional challenges, but other, more important ones, are often sidelined.

Also, completely agree with you. Doing sports, anything that makes your heart pumping and your body sweating like pig is by far the best thing one can do for his/her health. Regularly/often is the key, the only true key. Unless one is paraplegic, there is no excuse good enough to be valid. But guess what - it's hard :)

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#147

Post by netcan »

300bps wrote: post #139
netcan wrote: post #107

I have no particular expertise in this area, but I've been making the "we don't know why people are fat" argument to whoever will listen for a while. Doctors (socially, not at an appointment FWIW), academics… I'm actually quite surprised how often they've been thinking along the same lines and/or they are convinced by the general idea. basically: People have been getting fatter, to pathological levels for quite a whi…

People are fat because of all the little and big things they do on a daily basis. What you eat is the most important thing. How you exercise is next. What you do in your leisure time is important too. In the 70s, I don't recall anyone binge-watching Netflix while sitting on a couch. TV just wasn't that great and there were only a few specific times per day or week that were something you might be interested in. I don…

These things absolutely explain why I am fatter than you, why Jane is skinnier than Phyllis. They are useful if Jane wants to gain weight or Phyllis wants to lose it.

I don't think they are are enough to explain changes in the population over time though. I don't think habits have changed that much, first of all. Maybe fewer video games were played but fewer people did fun runs and cross fit too. Either way, there definitely were some coach potatoes and office workers in the 70s and there are some now. But our coach potatoes are bigger than our parents'.

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#148

Post by maxerickson »

cellshade wrote: post #144
maxerickson wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can still be explained by people eating more. Take a 1980 individual that had been eating a bmi23 diet and start feeding them a bmi26 level of calories and they will probably gain weight. Take a 2015 individual's diet from bmi26 to bmi23 and they will probably lose weight.

It says the same number of Calories in the post directly above.

Sure, but it isn't the same person. If my bmi23 diet is 2000 calories and I eat 2000 calories, I will probably have a bmi of 23. If my bmi23 diet is 1800 calories and I eat 2000 calories, I will probably have a higher bmi.

I guess a clearer way to say what I am getting at is that bmi is descriptive, not predictive, so a shift in the bmi maintained by a given calorie intake could be explained by a shift in the habits of the population, so that the modern group achieves a given bmi at higher calorie intakes.

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#149

Post by netcan »

visakanv wrote: post #123
netcan wrote: post #107

I have no particular expertise in this area, but I've been making the "we don't know why people are fat" argument to whoever will listen for a while. Doctors (socially, not at an appointment FWIW), academics… I'm actually quite surprised how often they've been thinking along the same lines and/or they are convinced by the general idea. basically: People have been getting fatter, to pathological levels for quite a whi…

I've tried to do some reading about all of this... the main argument that makes sense to me is that it has to do with increased consumption of sugar. To oversimplify, sugar triggers an increase in insulin, and something about insulin (I can't remember the precise details) changes the way the body processes food– it stores more of it as fat. The bulk of these ideas come from Gary Taubes' Why We Get Fat. Here's a summa…

That's the kind of crazy explanation I think we need. Though shall not covet chocolate covered french fries.

Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter

#150

Post by netcan »

maxerickson wrote: post #120
netcan wrote: post #107

I have no particular expertise in this area, but I've been making the "we don't know why people are fat" argument to whoever will listen for a while. Doctors (socially, not at an appointment FWIW), academics… I'm actually quite surprised how often they've been thinking along the same lines and/or they are convinced by the general idea. basically: People have been getting fatter, to pathological levels for quite a whi…

The food supply has increased and people are consuming more. See here: http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf Two big increases in consumption are in chicken and cooking oils. The average American eats 40 pounds more chicken than their grandparents and 30 additional pounds of fat and oils.

Or... maybe the food supply increased because we are eating more. I mean we don't generally produce more than we can consume.
Post reply on HN