{{ In a 2023 study, scientists at the National Kapodistrian University in Athens hypothesized that obesity might be peaking worldwide because it has reached “a biological limit.” That is, nearly all the people genetically susceptible to obesity are obese already. Another possibility: production of highly processed foods has maxed out relative to the world’s ability to consume it. }}
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/08/obesity-rate-ozempic-wegovy/
intercst
Good, even fatscinating, post!
d fb
Charity begins at home, so does health!
Obesity on the macro level is not something individuals can do much about but individually it is a simple problem to solve.
The Captain
Down below 69 Kgs.
Won’t happen until the entire population has “cheap carb” exposure.
Traveled to very remote China back in 2000. The only overweight person I met was the hospital administrator. Fastforward about 5 years, the little corner store has multiple options of M&Ms, Pringles, Oreos, etc and at least 1/4 the locals were now overweight/obese. There are still plenty parts of the developing world that have yet to decide what flavor Doritos to have with their Diet Coke.
There’ve been reports of obesity peaking in the general population…along with the numbers for the “overweight” dropping for some time, now. For all the world as if, just like with, say, climate change etc, the reports of the worrisome trends are grossly exaggerated. However, as a trend, it’s a bit deceptive. It might well be because there’s a biological limit, or that there’s an upper limit to what most folk will tolerate before they start to care enough…but such contrarian headlines tend to ignore the reality.
That reality is, that more folk are moving into the extremely obese category from “just” obese, into obesity from merely overweight, and that there simply aren’t enough of us normal weight folk around to shift upwards any longer to keep the figures rising at the rate they have. So many young children around these days who’re starting early and have never experienced normal weight.
I have no idea what the ‘biological limit’ is for obesity, but based upon my informal survey of Walmart customers while waiting for my Covid shot today, it is somewhere north of half the population. And I am talking obese, not just really, really fat.
According to the paper, the total percentage of obese and severely obese has declined slightly. With the percentage of severely obese increasing and percentage of obese deceasing by a larger amount. But all within the range of error.
The key words? Fake news?
The Captain
Fake is a different word for it.
The study is estimating. They did not get under the rolls of belly fat.
The study would have used whatever doctor’s records were available. Not all of those are shared. There are plenty of people who won’t go to a doctor.
Also according to the paper, “…the trends in adults are mixed and ambiguous and do not unequivocally support the obesity plateau hypothesis.” Also that the overall trend is one of obesity escalation rather than slowdown.
That’s the apparent conclusion of the authors of the cited paper…hence the “might have” and “could be” in the WaPo opinion piece. Which are the customary weasel words put out by research institution press offices when the studies they (and the study authors) want to tout the results of the research being noteworthy when it’s really not saying anything new. Science By Press Release, in other words.
If obesity peaked they would not like what they see.
I am currently visiting my old neighbors in Mallorca, Spain, where I lived for five years in the late 2010’s.
In the small town I lived in, youth obesity has radically lessened. The oldsters (my age and older) never had much of a problem, and the poor 30s to 50s are still too fat (but nowhere near as bad as most USAians. As I am a curious fella, I enquired as to what had happened.
Turns out the local public health services (one clinic and its voluntarily affiliated local doctors) noticed the progressively worsening and ever more expensive to treat obesity and related health conditions, and so chose to team up with the local schools, public and parochial, to do intense education with new parents, youths in schools, and where necessary with individual parents. They also reached out to the local farmers’ cooperative wholesaler and outlet (main crops are citrus, olives, vegetables, lamb) and applied pressure on local packaged food outlets and, gosh gee whiz, it seems to have worked well enough that local youth culture itself shifted from clueless to also becoming engaged, with crud food becoming actively “dissed”.
It actually seems to have worked. Who woulda thought?
d fb
One mouth at a time! 
The Captain