New Delhi, July 21
More than a lack of exercise, a higher caloric intake may be the primary driver of obesity worldwide, finds a study.
While many experts have offered that rising obesity rates are due to declining physical activity as societies become more industrialised, the findings led by researchers from Duke University in the US, show that people in wealthier countries expend just as much -- or even more -- energy daily.
“It’s clear that changes in diet, not reduced activity, are the main cause of obesity,” said Herman Pontzer, principal investigator and Professor in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the varsity.
In an article recently published in the journal PNAS, the researchers analysed thousands of measurements of daily energy expenditure, body fat percentage, and body mass index (BMI) from more than 4,200 adults aged 18 to 60 across 34 populations spanning six continents.
While a marginal decrease was found in size-adjusted total energy expenditure with economic development, differences in total energy expenditure explained only a fraction of the increase in body fat that accompanied development, said the researchers.