Cavernio:
from your citation:
Quote:
"Prenatal exposure to obesogens is likely to be an underestimated contributor to the
obesity epidemic. Although unhealthy food consumed in large portions together
with insufficien physical activity are likely to be among the chief substrates of
weight gain, rates of obesity have increased in infants [134], as well as children
and adults. This suggests that obesity is being programmed prenatally or in
early childhood."
What are obesogens? From earlier in your citation:
"“Obesogens” are chemical compounds that can promote obesity by increasing the
number of fat cells (and fat storage into existing fat cells), by changing the amount
of calories burned at rest, by altering energy balance to favor storage of calories,
and by altering the mechanisms through which the body regulates appetite and
satiety."
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Weight loss/gain is as simple as energy in/energy out. Eating is nothing more than mass assimilation, and moving around requires energy which is drawn from that mass. Use up more energy than you're putting in, you get a net loss in mass. Assimilate more mass than you're burning off? You see a net gain in mass. It works that way for everyone. When people's bodies have serious trouble absorbing food/burning energy otherwise, they become very ill and/or die.
It's biology, yes, but math is what lets you dictate your diet parameters so you can control healthy weight loss (e.g. set your calories too low and you risk burning muscle too). Either way, it's a pretty inescapable conclusion: You operate at a deficit, you lose weight.
Genetics/external variables play a role, but I think people allocate too much blame there. The other day I actually had this discussion with one of my girlfriend's friends (who is overweight) who was telling me that she has a condition that makes her body hold onto fat for dear life, making it hard for her to lose weight (so she has this weird fiber-laden, gluten-free diet or something, don't remember). Fast forward an hour later and she's gone through an entire ream of crackers plus a slice of pizza and a Coke. Something tells me her genetics aren't her main problem, here.
Even when you think about it in evolutionary frameworks, it just makes plain sense as to why we're all getting fatter: We move less, and eat more -- especially during a small sliver of time when our bodies haven't adjusted that much from earlier times when food was harder to come by and we had to work harder for it. Nowadays it's easy to get big portions of unhealthy, nutrient-devoid crap at every corner.