Ben Preiss
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 Parents Pass On Plump Genes America’s obesity epidemic has swelled the pool of plumpers to the brim and overweight people tend to seek out larger partners. This is no surprise; it is known that people tend to seek out people with similar traits although scientists have not ruled out the increase in their gravitational forces as an explanation for the amplified attraction. But this means when the heavier partners procreate, they will pass on a “fattie effect”, a double dose of the genes that predispose people to be overweight, according to an article in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Another recent study found that doctors are reluctant to label fat kids as obese, even if they technically are, referring to them instead as “at risk for overweight” or “overweight.” The reasons doctor cited are self-esteem concerns, not wanting to hurt their vulnerable feelings, and not wanting to endorse poor body image. This trend could be creating a generation of super-sized youth that will no longer be able to fit though conventional doors or in regular chairs, cars, planes, or elevators.  “In the 1940s and 1950s, people mostly got married in their early twenties before they were overweight or obese. So it would have been difficult for them to assortatively mate for body fatness because it would be impossible to distinguish somebody who was thin, from somebody who was thin but going to become fat,” Speakman said.
“Nowadays, we choose partners and have children much later, but if we are going to become obese, on average we do so much younger. This makes it possible for potential partners to select each other on the basis of body fatness,” he added.
This trend has helped fuel an obesity epidemic among children, about one in three of whom is overweight and one in five of whom is clinically obese. One result: The incidence of juvenile diabetes has skyrocketed over the past ten years.
(livescience)References: livescience, Comment: on Supersize My Kids |
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