Food vs Genetics on the Obesity Epidemic

Obesity is an ever-growing problem in not just the US, but worldwide. People are heavier today than any generation before, and this increase in body weight doesn’t seem to be declining any time soon. Being overweight and obese leads to health problems physically as well as mentally and emotionally; if individuals are so heavy that they can not leave their home, they miss out on opportunities to interact with society.

According to the article “More Than 10 Percent of the World’s Population is Obese, Study Finds” by Matt Richtel, obesity is now a world-wide problem. There is data that “rates of obesity at least doubled in 73 countries” from 1980 to 2015. Another disappointing piece of data states that obesity in children is increasing faster than obesity in adults. The availability of processed foods may play a significant role in the obesity epidemic, since these foods are usually cheaper, take less time to prepare, and are tastier. Adam Drewnowsk from the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington stated that “What people eat is the key factor in whether they become obese or not.” This statement supports the claim that weight gain is influenced by food consumption, and therefore, should theoretically be fixed by a change in diet.

However, there is also some evidence that genetics may play a role in obesity. Dr. Jen Beshel from Loyola University Chicago studies Drosophila and the connection between genetics, feeding behavior, and obesity. Dr. Beshel studied the upd1 gene and its effects on the fly brain. Her team discovered that if you knock out upd1, flies increase their food consumption, which leads to weight gain. The upd1 gene signals satiety to the brain and tells the fly to stop eating, so flies with normal levels of upd1 eat a normal amount. This study is significant because upd1 in flies is analogous to leptin in humans. Dr. Beshel’s research suggests that there is a genetic factor in human cases of obesity and that food consumption is not the only factor that leads to weight gain.

These differing points of view ultimately focus on the same phenomenon: the obesity epidemic. The article by Matt Richtel states that poorer populations may be more at-risk for obesity because unhealthy processed food is cheaper, and people buy what they can afford. Dr. Beshel’s work also suggests that there might be at-risk populations for obesity based on their genes, specifically leptin. Although there is debate on the causes of obesity, it is agreed that this growing problem needs to be stopped. Being overweight and obese leads to many illnesses, such as cancer and diabetes, that could have been avoided if an individual maintained a healthy weight. It is also imperative to find an effective way to treat obesity since so many children are also being affected. In my opinion, obesity is influenced by both genes and environment, and although some individuals may be more at-risk than others, too many people are obese for us to stand by and watch the world get unhealthier.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/health/obesity-study-10-percent-globally.html