RFK Jr, HHs & Public Health News | Measles outbreak, etc.

[nycfan]

Sorry I couldn't find it non paywall. Major new study says the reason that we are fat is because of what we eat, not a sedentary lifestyle. The study compares activity rates of people in the developed world versus hunter-gatherers and farmers and determines that we both burn about the same amount of calories. We're fat because we eat more and eat a lot of ultra processed foods.

I think we already knew that to a certain extent but this study is unique and that it compares different types of societies activity levels, and concludes that it is similar and not the reason we are heavier.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/07/16/obesity-cause-diet-exercise/

—> https://wapo.st/4eN2IDX

 

[nycfan]

—> https://wapo.st/4eN2IDX

On the constrained total energy expenditure model concept:

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/opinion/sunday/debunking-the-hunter-gatherer-workout.html

Constrained Total Energy Expenditure and Metabolic Adaptation to Physical Activity in Adult Humans - PMC

Current obesity prevention strategies recommend increasing daily physical activity, assuming that increased activity will lead to corresponding increases in total energy expenditure and prevent or reverse energy imbalance and weight gain [1-3]. Such ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Deciphering the constrained total energy expenditure model in humans by associating accelerometer-measured physical activity from wrist and hip - Scientific Reports

The constrained total energy expenditure (TEE) model posits that progressive increases in physical activity (PA) lead to increases in TEE; but after certain PA threshold, TEE plateaus. Then, a compensatory reduction in the expenditure of non-essential activities constrains the TEE. We...

www.nature.com

 

[DiehardHeelFan]

Sorry I couldn't find it non paywall. Major new study says the reason that we are fat is because of what we eat, not a sedentary lifestyle. The study compares activity rates of people in the developed world versus hunter-gatherers and farmers and determines that we both burn about the same amount of calories. We're fat because we eat more and eat a lot of ultra processed foods.

I think we already knew that to a certain extent but this study is unique and that it compares different types of societies activity levels, and concludes that it is similar and not the reason we are heavier.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/07/16/obesity-cause-diet-exercise/

Can’t outwork a bad diet. With that said, think it is a combination of diet and exercise. Plus one of the big issues is that fast food/processed foods are all cheaper relative to healthy foods. Not to say you can’t eat healthy on a budget, but fast food/processed foods will stretch the dollar more. There is the convenience factor too. Also think we as a society are more sedentary than the study says. Anecdotally speaking.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

Can’t outwork a bad diet. With that said, think it is a combination of diet and exercise. Plus one of the big issues is that fast food/processed foods are all cheaper relative to healthy foods. Not to say you can’t eat healthy on a budget, but fast food/processed foods will stretch the dollar more. There is the convenience factor too. Also think we as a society are more sedentary than the study says. Anecdotally speaking.

I think this was the big find of the study. It showed that we were not more sedentary than folks from other cultures. That's a little hard to believe but data is data.