Obesity is a hot topic because it is epidemic. There may be a genetic predisposition in some people, but there is no way the gene pool could have changed so fast since Reagan got elected.
Most likely obesity has become the new normal thanks to some environmental toxin. (Ex. Bisphenol A). So there is someone to blame somewhere.
As for the in != out stuff I'll say that scientists have been wrong on this so long in face of the evidence; for instance, based on that theory long term weight control could be attained by cutting one cookie a day from your diet, which doesn't work. Also if you look at the metabolic charts, there are enough alternate pathways that the efficiency of metabolism could vary by 10% or more.
This is the point not made in the article. We did not historically have so many obese people until very recently in history. Looking at the 'fat' brothers in an old Guinness Book I noticed how much they resembled an average 'fat' person today. They aren't even near the far end of the overweight spectrum. Heck, even watching movies from the early 80s, what is often called 'fat' is considered average or normal today. We've changed our cultural definition of fat to make the average feel better about themselves.
And yet, when you watch a show from the 70s, say "Soap" (highly recommended - passes the test of time with flying colors), you'll notice that all the actors there -- and they all look considerably thinner than modern actors (e.g., take Friends for a nineties comparison). Standards have changed, regardless of Hollywood, and you can measure relative changes (though not absolute values) on through Hollywood.
Obesity is a hot topic because it is epidemic. There may be a genetic predisposition in some people, but there is no way the gene pool could have changed so fast since Reagan got elected.
Most likely obesity has become the new normal thanks to some environmental toxin. (Ex. Bisphenol A). So there is someone to blame somewhere.
As for the in != out stuff I'll say that scientists have been wrong on this so long in face of the evidence; for instance, based on that theory long term weight control could be attained by cutting one cookie a day from your diet, which doesn't work. Also if you look at the metabolic charts, there are enough alternate pathways that the efficiency of metabolism could vary by 10% or more.