Obesity (A movie and my thoughts about it)

I just finished watching a movie called "Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat". I wouldn't really recommend the movie based solely on the fact that it is somewhat boring. As for the obesity problem in the U.S. and the world in general, there is legitimate concern about the health problems associated with obesity - most notable perhaps is that diabetes is currently the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. What is unclear however, is exactly what is behind the problem.

Some of the more commonly mentioned causes for obesity in an individual include: genetics, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, or overeating (perhaps for emotional reasons). Unfortunately, it does not yet seem quite possible to identify the specific cause for obesity either on an individual level or for society as a whole. Instead, we have only generalized concepts. Knowing that there is a significant change throughout society (a revolution, if you will) however, we can look for other significant changes or revolutions that may have caused it.

Revolutions that come to mind include the baby boom generation and the internet. Notably, I would not include something like the availability of food as a recent revolution (I'm not sure that it was ever a revolution - it may have been a gradually increasing phenomenon) - nor would I count the changing shape of the traditional family as a revolution (again, I think it has changed gradually). I'm not saying that I can prove that the current explosion in obesity rates comes from a revolutionary change in society - I'm just suggesting it more likely does.

In order for the baby boom generation to factor into the obesity rates one might look for the aging population to be "throwing off the averages" - this does not seem to be the case however. One might also consider whether the "echo-boomers" have lived a dramatically different life because the economically prosperous times in which they were born and raised afforded them the ability to do far less physical work than any previous generation - and perhaps their children adopted some of these habits. Similarly, I tend to think that the internet revolution holds real possibility as one cause because it is a significant revolution of the uselessness of physical activity.

As for genetics, we know that a gene is only part of the "equation" - environment is the other part. To use the "lingo" Phenotype = Genotype + Environment. In my guess, the internet revolution is probably a significant environmental change that requires adaptation through intentionally increased physical work in order to combat obesity.

Of course, the problem with this theory is that many in the U.S. do not have internet access and obesity is often linked to poverty (which is linked with lack of internet access). It would be interesting to do a study to look for a correlation between internet access (at home, work, etc.) and obesity.