Sydney Spiesel gives “five reasons you haven’t thought of” for Why We’re Fatter than ever before:
- Inadequate sleep
- Chemical contamination
- Heating and air-conditioning
- Smoking cessation
- Medications
Here’s where it gets really odd:
In one large study of more than 1,500 children, attempts to increase physical activity and healthy eating had absolutely no effect on obesity. Another study of 7,000 children found that how close a child lives to the nearest fast-food restaurant has no effect on obesity. Proximity to a playground also doesn’t matter.
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For instance, it seems obvious that increasing energy output — by walking to school, for instance, or starting an intense gym program — will help decrease obesity. Unfortunately, another study points out that what’s obvious isn’t necessarily true.
Evidently, children have an activity “set point”; making them walk to school or go to gym class simply reduces the amount of physical activity they do on their own time.