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Childhood Obesity Linked To Air Pollution From Vehicles (theguardian.com)

Early exposure to air pollution from vehicles increases the risk of children becoming obese, new research has found. From a report: High levels of nitrogen dioxide, which is emitted by diesel engines, in the first year of life led to significantly faster weight gain later, the scientists found. Other pollutants produced by road traffic have also been linked to obesity in children by recent studies. Nitrogen dioxide pollution is at illegal levels in most urban areas in the UK and the government has lost three times in the high court over the inadequacy of its plans. The pollutant also plagues many cities in Europe and around the world. "We would urge parents to be mindful where their young children spend their time, especially considering if those areas are near major roads," said Jeniffer Kim, at the University of Southern California, who led the new research. "The first year of life is a period of rapid development of various systems in the body [and] may prime the body's future development." The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed last Monday that 90% of the world's children are breathing unsafe air, a situation described as "inexcusable" by the WHO's head. Concern over the impact of toxic air on children's health is rising as research reveals serious long-term damage to both their physical and mental health.

166 comments

  1. and ... and ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    and eating too much. probably more the fault.

    1. Re:and ... and ... by geekmux · · Score: 2, Insightful

      and eating too much. probably more the fault.

      How dare you accuse those who should be! You must be some kind of racist.

      Personal accountability was deemed unethical and immoral. Seems it doesn't help move #PerpetualVictims forward towards their special flavor of "progress".

    2. Re: and ... and ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very few people place "personal accountability" on toddlers, what with them not even up to using the toilet in many cases.

    3. Re: and ... and ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very few people place "personal accountability" on toddlers, what with them not even up to using the toilet in many cases.

      But they do place personal accountability on their parents

    4. Re:and ... and ... by SirSlud · · Score: 0

      I don't know where you got your hard on for "nobody is personally accountable these days and the problem is always that" but it's not emotionally healthy or mature and says a lot more about you than any supposed wisdom you think you might have.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    5. Re:and ... and ... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      I don't know where you got your hard on for "nobody is personally accountable these days and the problem is always that" but it's not emotionally healthy or mature and says a lot more about you than any supposed wisdom you think you might have.

      I think you may have been missing things....these days EVERYONE is trying to lay claim to professional victim-hood.

      Nothing is "your" fault....it is the fault of xyz, or this race or gender or society in general.

      It is always someone else's fault and it is up to society, or government to fix things for you....

      Are you overweight? Not your fault...no need to get off your ass and exercise nor change your diet, nope, it is the fault of society and company's advertising McBurgers to you with 64oz sugar filled sodas. Yep, they are forcing you to sit on your lazy ass and consume endless amounts of them.

      We need govt. to regulate this. It isn't your fault.

      That is but one small example....amongst many.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    6. Re:and ... and ... by sjames · · Score: 2

      Meanwhile there's all those people getting the flu because they breath too much.

      If they'd just man up and hold their breath when they're in public they wouldn't get sick.

    7. Re: and ... and ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you may have been missing things....these days EVERYONE is trying to lay claim to professional victim-hood.

      In other words, just like yesterday.

      Including people like yourself desperately wringing your hands over the supposedly benighted masses of today as if that wasn't a tired retread itself.

    8. Re:and ... and ... by geekmux · · Score: 1

      I don't know where you got your hard on for "nobody is personally accountable these days and the problem is always that" but it's not emotionally healthy or mature and says a lot more about you than any supposed wisdom you think you might have.

      Personal accountability is one of those things that tends to affect a shitload of things in your life, both good and bad. And obesity is overwhelmingly attributed to personal decisions, so my theory is hardly delusional. No it's not "always" that. In this case, it's about 95% that.

      That said, perhaps we should look at TFA to see what kind of crisis this actually is:

      "...by age 10, children suffering high early exposure were almost 1kg heavier on average than those with low exposure."

      Today, over 30% of children aged 2 - 19 are overweight or obese, and that's before you account for a whopping one kilogram difference by age 10 due to bad air.

      This is sensationalist reporting at best, and is hardly worth a debate on the importance of personal accountability. And if you truly think that ingraining the importance of personal accountability is somehow unhealthy, take a good hard look at what happens to emotional health and maturity when you absolve kids of it.

    9. Re: and ... and ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The thing about âoepersonal accountabilityâ is that people arenâ(TM)t playing on an even playing field. A kid with severe asthma, for example, is at a huge disadvantage against a child of average health goes. And theyâ(TM)re both at a disadvantage against a child who just naturally doesnâ(TM)t s athletic and doesnâ(TM)t easily put on weight.
      Study after study after study keeps showing that environmental and genetic factors beyond a persons control affect obesity, but people keep acting like itâ(TM)s about personal discipline.

    10. Re:and ... and ... by ewibble · · Score: 2

      Perhaps its driving around everywhere which contributes to both

    11. Re: and ... and ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      These people have wills of steel. Ie. no candy, no booze, no pr0n.

      Puritans with a vengeance!

    12. Re:and ... and ... by m00sh · · Score: 1

      and eating too much. probably more the fault.

      No.

      The cause of obesity is the body storing fat beyond 20% of the body weight

      Nobody got fat eating too much celery.

    13. Re:and ... and ... by edibobb · · Score: 1

      That is 100% correct.
      1. Calories digested - calories burned = fat.

      Incidentally...
      2. Correlation <> causation.

  2. So cars are not producing .... by 3seas · · Score: 2

    High Fructose Corn Syrup? Make since given the ethanol added.

    1. Re:So cars are not producing .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does not make since

    2. Re:So cars are not producing .... by 3seas · · Score: 1

      correction ....So cars are now......

    3. Re:So cars are not producing .... by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      Or could it be that poor people are fatter, and poor people also happen to live in more polluted areas? Correlation, causality,...

  3. Another random correlation by Q-Hack! · · Score: 0

    I could swear that people are just looking at http://tylervigen.com/spurious... for ideas to make new headlines with.

    --
    Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
    1. Re:Another random correlation by Luthair · · Score: 1

      I wondered if there was something like kids in rural areas are more likely to play outside than those in urban environments.

    2. Re:Another random correlation by oldgraybeard · · Score: 2, Informative

      To the powers that be in urban areas "rural areas" do not exist and thus are of no concern in their world.

      Just my 2 cents ;)

    3. Re:Another random correlation by Drethon · · Score: 1

      I could swear that people are just looking at http://tylervigen.com/spurious... for ideas to make new headlines with.

      Yeah, I grew up less than a quarter mile from one of the major city highways and about a half a mile from the other major freeway (both feeding a city pop around 200k). When I started college I was 5'9" and 115 pounds (male, so more than a little skinny), since I left home I'm a more healthy weight but far from any overweight category in my late 30s. So am I just an outlier in this study (yeah I know, one data point out of 7.5 billion and all that...)?

    4. Re:Another random correlation by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I wondered if there was something like kids in rural areas are more likely to play outside than those in urban environments.

      Obesity is higher in rural areas.

      Perhaps rural kids are LESS likely to play outside, since an urban park full of other kids is a nicer place to play than a rural cornfield.

    5. Re:Another random correlation by LordAba · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I grew up less than a quarter mile from one of the major city highways and about a half a mile from the other major freeway (both feeding a city pop around 200k). When I started college I was 5'9" and 115 pounds (male, so more than a little skinny), since I left home I'm a more healthy weight but far from any overweight category in my late 30s. So am I just an outlier in this study (yeah I know, one data point out of 7.5 billion and all that...)?

      I'm guessing you didn't take any sociological or statistics classes in college? Bell curves, how do they work!?

    6. Re:Another random correlation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I dunno what it has to do with the article's coincidences, but I grew up in and lived in a rural area for 20 years, and have always been obese. I also spent most of my free time outside in woods (ranging a few miles), played soccer until 9th grade, and still go out almost every weekend to hike/wander and take pictures.

      Obviously the obesity is food based (fat doesn't make itself), but I've never really been able to pinpoint the cause. I haven't drank soda or sugar-beverages since about 2006, and I even avoid artificial sweeteners (mainly due to carefully cultivated irrational fears). The closest thing I know to a reason is carbs - I store everything out of any rice, beans, bread, pasta, etc that I eat. I once lost almost 100 pounds by sticking to a strict keto diet (under 20 carbs a day) but that was pretty boring and I had to stop while unemployed for a few months, and regained the weight eating rice and beans (which was all I could afford for a while).

      I'm 316 pounds right now, and doing some research on another attempt to control this with diet, but haven't settled on what yet (I'm thinking overall portion control without a strict keto regimen, combined with a strict no food after 7pm rule). The weight takes a toll on my knees and feet, especially after I've been out 3 or 4 miles.

    7. Re:Another random correlation by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      I could swear that people are just looking at http://tylervigen.com/spurious... for ideas to make new headlines with.

      I dunno, I believe the divorce/margarine one. Seems like a clear correlation.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    8. Re:Another random correlation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup, correlations I don't like do NOT equal causation. Correlations I do like, always DO, though.

    9. Re:Another random correlation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm guessing you didn't take any reading comprehension classes in college?

      I said I was probably an outlier and just one data point, you sanctamonius PoS.

    10. Re:Another random correlation by PPH · · Score: 1

      Now plot those against rentals of 'Last Tango In Paris'.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    11. Re:Another random correlation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wondered if there was something like kids in rural areas are more likely to play outside than those in urban environments.

      Cars in the 1970's polluted WAY more than today. Looking at photo's from that era people were a lot thinner. Don't we have all these PZEV cars now?

    12. Re:Another random correlation by LordAba · · Score: 1

      First of all, thanks for using the correct term Person of Shit and not the racist Shit Person.

      Second of all, I've read what you wrote as something sarcastic. "I grew up near XYZ and I'm fine, I must be a statistical outlier or something?" can be read as ridiculing the premise. My apologies.

      When read as intended I would have ignored it because it is banal and doesn't add to the conversion. Sorry for the derail.

    13. Re: Another random correlation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      City's are full of brown people many, of which, talk funny. I don't like to see brown people and hear people who talk funny and it's a restriction on my liberty. Brown people are not allowed to talk funny in Germany or Japan or India, they have law's against it we should to.
      --
      cayenne8

    14. Re:Another random correlation by dinfinity · · Score: 1

      No idea why you were downmodded.

      Key in these cases is always what the researches corrected for. In this case they are:
      "age, sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, Spanish questionnaire, and later childhood near-road NOx exposure"
      ( https://ehjournal.biomedcentra... )

      That is a pretty paltry list of possible other causes.

  4. This makes no sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Pollution standards are far stricter than they used to be, so we should be seeing a decrease in obesity if this is such a major factor.

    These are just environmental activists who are trying to exploit "intersectionality" with the well-publicised obesity epidemic, so as to promote their war on mankind's industrialisation.

    You'll never convince mankind to tear down its hard-won development. Make better machines, or STFU.

    1. Re:This makes no sense. by ripvlan · · Score: 1

      Per device it might be generating less. But there are more devices. ...and they're made by VW...and clean coal.

    2. Re:This makes no sense. by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Depends on whether our pollution standards happen to target the chemicals or if they were considered harmless and irrelevant.

    3. Re:This makes no sense. by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Depends on whether our pollution standards happen to target the chemicals

      They do. Catalytic converters specifically target nitrogen oxides, and NO2 levels have fallen dramatically over the last 20 years.

      Has there been a corresponding decrease in childhood obesity? No.

      To be fair, older cars produce much more NO2 than newer models, so kids in low income neighborhoods are more likely to have higher NO2 exposure, and are more likely to be obese. But even in low income areas, NO2 levels have fallen, with no corresponding decrease in childhood obesity.

    4. Re:This makes no sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to libertards, all you have to do is remove all governement regulations regarding air quality and polution and the market will fix everything.

    5. Re:This makes no sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Per device it might be generating less. But there are more devices. ...and they're made by VW...and clean coal.

      VW has about a 2% market in the US. Maybe Chrysler is fibbing?

    6. Re:This makes no sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What? That's the conservitards' approach, not the libertards.

    7. Re:This makes no sense. by e3m4n · · Score: 1

      IMO soda's made the most sense. I was born in 71. I watched the proliferation of soda unfold. I watched the pepsi challenge and all the free 12 packs in just about every giveaway. I remember the first time going to a restaurant that gave free refills on soda. To a kid thats like giving unlimited candy at a candy store.

    8. Re:This makes no sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember that this is China. There has a been a large increase in cars and people living close to highways are large throughfares. China was using leaded gasoline until 2000 or so. However, other factors could be involved for obesity, and the study might not have corrected for sedentary lifestyles or food consumption patterns for those living near highways vs. the general public.

      By they way, even in North America it has been known that living near highways or otherwise near heavy traffic is not great for decades now. Every meter/yard makes a difference. Can roughly doubles cardiovascular risks among other things, and is equivalent to pack-a-day or half-pack-a-day smoking habits in health effects if I remember correctly. Some studies in Mexico City showed association with childhood behavioral and learning disabilities, and autopsied dogs showed significant brain issues.

    9. Re:This makes no sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      libertards NOT = libtards

      libertards = libertarian retards

  5. Link to the study by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-018-0409-7

  6. Great News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No need to blame bad diet and lack of exercise. Now we know it's the fault of cars.

    As a supporting anecdote. It turns out that if we eliminate cars and make the little fuckers walk to school, and everywhere else for that matter, they lose weight. Go figure!

    1. Re:Great News by ripvlan · · Score: 1

      no no. We need less reliable cars so that kids can learn to "push" them when they break down.

      Problem solved: Fewer running cars is less pollution. And more physical exercise. win-win.

    2. Re:Great News by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

      Good news everyone: car emissions are lower than ever and still falling. The reason for air pollution in so many European cities being at illegal levels is not because pollution has increased (it hasn't), but because the legal levels have been set lower and lower. Which is good, sure. Cleaner is always better. But it seems to me that if there is a direct correlation, childhood obesity would have been more prevalent during times when NO2 levels were higher as well, such as during the 80s. It wasn't. And it certainly isn't the "immediate health crisis" that WHO guy calls it.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  7. Makes sense by rsilvergun · · Score: 1, Insightful

    when you can't get as much oxygen into your system you can't exercise as much. Cyclists (of which I am one) have known this for a long time.

    I wish we could get the environmentalist crowd to stop banging on about shaving whales and talk more about stuff like this.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Makes sense by alvinrod · · Score: 1, Insightful

      So we just need to give the kids some EPO then? Seems to work for the cyclists.

      Really though, you don't need extensive exercise to lose weight, just better eating habits. I dropped 30 lbs. a few years back just by cutting out unnecessary snack foods and other crap without doing additional high-intensity exercise. It's much easier not to put an additional 600 calories into your body than it is to burn that 600 calories (on top of what you already do) off later.

    2. Re:Makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would you want to shave whales? Do they even have any hair?

    3. Re: Makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for the anecdote. I might go with the science though.

    4. Re:Makes sense by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why would you want to shave whales? Do they even have any hair?

      Yes. Whales have hair.

      Young whales of many species are born with some hair, and lose it before adulthood. Others keep a bit of hair into adulthood.

      Shaving them is difficult, because you have to train them to keep their head above water so the shaving cream doesn't wash off.

    5. Re:Makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All mammals have hair.

  8. Great by TimMD909 · · Score: 0

    Parents needed a new reason to be paranoid and overprotective. That's never been a bad thing.

    On a serious note, I grew up in Pittsburgh. Prior the 1980s, the air was exceptionally unsafe. Since then, it's only been getting cleaner. What's the trend line for obesity look like? Spoiler: obesity is going up and up, while the air is cleaner than it's ever been for nearly 40 years. Therefore if bad air was thing, you'd expect the exact opposite.

    Alarmist news reports over spurious correlations do not help people. They only make your average person lose trust in science. That's not particularly a good thing.

    1. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clearly the pollution was keeping obesity down, since the dirty air kept everyone coughing more and more, exercising more internal muscles at all times. To combat this, we must remove the catalytic converters from cars and reintroduce airborne pollution, for the sake of our children.

    2. Re:Great by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Maybe it was enough to finish off the really fat bastards who were already out of breath?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  9. Whale Shaving by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You cyclists are all the same.

    Don't know whale shaving. You've clearly never tried it.

    1. Re:Whale Shaving by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would you want to shave whales? Do they even have any hair?

      http://dilbert.com/strip/1989-11-17

  10. Said it before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    And I'll say it again: The best possible thing that could happen for both the planet AND human beings is for the price of oil to skyrocket. Would it cause an economic disaster? Probably. Would it be worth it? Without a single doubt.

    1. Re:Said it before by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 0

      Would it cause an economic disaster?

      Not in America. Due to the fracking revolution, America is roughly self-sufficient in oil. So every extra dollar that a Californian pays for gas is extra money into the pocket of an oil field worker in west Texas. There will be regional shifts in income, but they net to zero.

    2. Re:Said it before by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      So, what's wrong with this graph, which says imports are around 7 million barrels/day ?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    3. Re: Said it before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      It's a projection created in May 2016, when the Democrats were in control, everyone assumed that Hillary would win, and expected the continued destruction of American exceptionalism to continue.

    4. Re:Said it before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, what's wrong with this graph, which says imports are around 7 million barrels/day ?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      It's a lovely graph but it ends in 2012.

    5. Re:Said it before by religionofpeas · · Score: 2

      It's a lovely graph but it ends in 2012.

      Here's one that has a few extra years:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    6. Re: Said it before by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Because the oil business is complicated. The US imports and exports oil. It is also has one of the largest oil refining industries on the planet. Not all oil is the same, so refineries will often get oil from multiple sources and then mix it together to make it easier to refine.

      When you take into account both imports and exports, the net difference is about 3.7 million barrels per day imported into the US. Consumption is at about 20 million barrels per day, so the imports are still a significant chunk of that. The main reason that the US is a net importer rather than a net exporter is the low price of oil on the global markets; as long as the price remains low, many of the American oil fields cannot be profitably operated. If the price went up significantly it would not be long before the US became a net exporter.

    7. Re: Said it before by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Because the oil business is complicated. The US imports and exports oil. It is also has one of the largest oil refining industries on the planet. Not all oil is the same, so refineries will often get oil from multiple sources and then mix it together to make it easier to refine.

      When you take into account both imports and exports, the net difference is about 3.7 million barrels per day imported into the US. Consumption is at about 20 million barrels per day, so the imports are still a significant chunk of that. The main reason that the US is a net importer rather than a net exporter is the low price of oil on the global markets; as long as the price remains low, many of the American oil fields cannot be profitably operated. If the price went up significantly it would not be long before the US became a net exporter.

      Exactly this. Fracking has made the USA the home of low cost Natural Gas and re-vitalized the production of crude coming from existing well bores. But prices are so cheap right now that it's still not worth spending the money to produce crude, so it sits in the ground, waiting for it to become economic to recover.

      When Oil was above $100 bbl a lot of capacity was developed that now sits idle. It's just waiting for the day it's worth pumping. I'm guessing we will need it within a decade or so, barring some advancement tin Fusion or other large scale, low environmental impact power source.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    8. Re: Said it before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No oil will be a thing of the past in only 2-3 years.

      https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=12842289&cid=57586286

      https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=12842289&cid=57574481

      WindBourne.

    9. Re: Said it before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No oil will be a thing of the past in only 2-3 years.

      https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=12842289&cid=57586286

      https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=12842289&cid=57574481

      WindBourne.

  11. and oil furnaces (because they use the same fuel) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "High levels of nitrogen dioxide, which is emitted by diesel engines".....and oil furnaces (because they use the same fuel)

    https://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch01/final/c01s03.pdf

  12. Sunspots by goombah99 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    sunspots have risen too.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:Sunspots by bobbied · · Score: 2

      Have they?

      I was under the distinct impression that sunspots where unexpectedly low in number. Not a Maunder Minimum, but it has been very disruptive to HF radio propagation as a lack of sunspots thins out the ionosphere and drives the MUF (Maximum Usable Frequency) down. The lower bands are *really* impacted by impulse noise (lighting, arching and other very loud RF sources) and for ham radio operators stuffs a lot of us in very small and narrow portions of the 75 and 40 meter bands.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  13. Or you know, living in cities make you move less. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But that is too obvious, lets blame the big CO2 monster!

  14. Childhood obesity linked to bullshit in newspapers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hypothesis: It's due to people consuming that crap

  15. the use of the M4 carbine too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    cuz you know... thin people got killed in the war, so their thin genes are not in the pool anymore and are replaced with fat people that can't go to war and use the m4...

  16. Re: and oil furnaces (because they use the same fu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nitrogen oxide formation is not dependent on the fuel, but on the combustion process. The nitrogen and oxygen come from the air. Any combustion produces some level of NOx. The leaner and hotter, the combustion, the more you get, independent of fuel.

  17. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by religionofpeas · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The subjects are ingesting more calories than their bodies need. That's why they become obese. It's that simple.

    Yes, everybody knows that. The question is what are all the things that lead people to ingest more calories than they need, and if certain kinds of pollution may play a part in that.

  18. Well, of course. by aix+tom · · Score: 1

    The more cars are around, the less children are walking.

    When a child has to walk or bike to school it is less likely to be obese than when it's driven by soccer mom in her SUV.

    1. Re:Well, of course. by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      When a child has to walk or bike to school it is less likely to be obese than when it's driven by soccer mom in her SUV.

      Eh ... if said child is being driven to soccer, I'm not sure that's actually true ...

  19. fart in your mouth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    studies show people who fart directly into your mouth are more likely to win the lottery
    especially if its a big wet fart that splatters all over your big fat lips

  20. Re: There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Parents don''t say 'No' when their children scream 'But I want to go to McDonald's!' whilst throwing a tantrum. That's the reason.

  21. wooow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Guess there are no Fat kids outside of Cities. wow.... this shouldn't even be on this site. its like saying typing on your keyboard has been linked to D*ck Shrinkage. lol

  22. Makes no sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Europe has a fascination with diesel due to taxation benefits. There's a lot more diesel used in Europe vs USA. Yet US kids are fatter.

  23. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Once one takes in more calories than the body needs, the [human] body stores any extra calories as fat. This fat is what we see and draw the conclusion that one is obese.

    Let anyone challenge me on this.

    Caloric retention is variable. Individuals with the same diet can have very different weight (and the composition of that weight) because of many biological factors relating to cell type prioritizing and thoroughness of food breakdown. This much is scientifically accepted, but much like the discovery that diabetes is a pancreatic malfunction and the existence of bacterial ulcers, people who learned a simple explanation in 4th grade believe their misunderstanding to be absolute truth and reject all later discoveries.

  24. Eat Less Tailpipe by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

    I advise all my children not to eat anything that comes out of the exhaust pipe of a car.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  25. ...with likely causation by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 2

    It is also not hard to think of likely causal connections either: areas with high air pollution are either likely to be poorer and/or have more traffic which will mean less playing outside and fewer trips to the grocery store making processed foods with longer shelf lives more appealing than fresh produce. I wish journals would remember that correlation != causation and refuse to publish crap like this without actual evidence of cause.

    1. Re: ...with likely causation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or fat kids need bigger cars to haul them around in?

  26. BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    In first world countries these "scientists" might think this is plausible but as soon as you include a bunch of third world countries this is BS.

    You can go to highly polluted cities in third world counties and guess what, the vast majority of all people are skinny. You can go to the countryside both polluted and not polluted and guess what, most people are skinny.

    And these people could over-indulge on food if they wanted to, they just don't.

    No, the answer is social acceptance (how "okay" is it to be fat in this society), behavior (binge eating on McDonalds is normal, for example), and what foods are being consumed (mayonnaise and cheeseburgers, vs short grain brown rice, sizzle peppers, and a small portion of steak, or millions of other comparisons).

    1. Re:BS by wtbman · · Score: 1

      Came here to say what you've already said. Can they explain why the children in Peru are mostly super skinny? The thick fog of diesel smoke is so bad you can't even see very far most days in Lima. I don't believe this one bit. It seems like diet is to blame more than anything.

    2. Re:BS by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 2
      explain why the children in Peru are mostly super skinny? The thick fog of diesel smoke is so bad you can't even see very far most days in Lima.

      That is easy: the diesel engines that smoke heavily burn at low temperatures, leaving lots of unburned carbon. The oxides of nitrogen are produced by burning the nitrogen in the air, not diesel. This only became a problem after diesel engines were modified to run hotter reduce the carbon dioxide. To create lots of oxides of nitrogen, the engines have to run seriously hot.

      To mitigate the NO2 problem, they introduced the urea injection technology (squirting pigs piss into the the exhaust pipe). The amount of urea needed depends on the amount of NOx being generated, which depends on the temperature in the combustion chamber, which can't be measured, so the microprocessor has to guess. Sometimes it is right, sometimes not. If its right, well and good, if not you get a face full of pigs piss, NOx or both. Fortunately, on a test bench, its easy to guess. In real life, not so much.

      I blame the regulators for driving the CO2 regulations deep into this area, when diesels were already cleaner than petrol, Also, you could use EGR technology instead, but the pigs piss people would not make a profit from that. In any case, pollution is around 60% of what it was in 1970 - probably less than 10% of what it was in 1956, in the UK.

      Disclaimer: I am not bribed by pigs piss people, and my proposal a for "Kosher" alternative, using goats' piss, was ignored. I am not sore, honest.

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    3. Re:BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IANAS (I am not a scientist) but my gut tells me eating a lot of food is probably the cause here. I just feel like there's gotta be some sort of relation.

  27. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, like conservation of energy. What a dumb idea.

    If caloric retention is in fact variable, then those diet studies haven't properly accounted for caloric inputs and caloric outputs. Any claims to the contrary would falsify a very solid theory and earn a Nobel prize.

    captcha: OMG you're fat

  28. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by LordAba · · Score: 2

    Exactly. Everyone know how you get fat, this looks at why

    It could be Chemical X inhibits vitamin intake, causing people to eat more to compensate. Chemical X might cause depression, which in a population can lead to overeating as a mechanism to cope. Chemical X might inhibit the ability to feel full. Chemical X could make people less inclined to exercise.

    Heck, it could be "cars produce Chemical X, more cars more Chemical X, more cars the less parents let their kids out to play, less play time early in life could lead to obesity later in life.

    Having evidence of correlation and handwaving it away as calorie consumption doesn't do anybody any favors.

  29. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To listen to some, it's completely impossible that there are any biological or epidemiological reasons. They have studied all of the possible combinations of factors and ruled out anything other than a lack of discipline and self-control. We're just waiting for them to present evidence for this sudden shift in human psychology.

  30. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by iggymanz · · Score: 2

    false model, since manure burns. all calories taken in are not used. since all calories not used, some food types might cause obsesity compared to others.

    high fat high protein diet == low obsesity

    high carb diet == obsesity

  31. "That Smelly truck..." by Zurkeyon3733 · · Score: 0

    "Caused my poor little one to keep sticking that fork into his face. Even after he couldn't get out of bed. The smell of those trucks, was just too much for him!" LMMFAO! What passes for science these days. Ridiculous. ;-D

  32. Sources of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 1

    Sources of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide:
    https://www3.epa.gov/region1/airquality/images/nox.gif

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    1. Re:Sources of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it is concentrated more in the home where someone lives gaining heat from any combustion source tuned incorrectly then your pie chart is irrelevant. It needs to be sampled at the dwelling

    2. Re:Sources of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 1

      If it is concentrated more in the home where someone lives gaining heat from any combustion source tuned incorrectly then your pie chart is irrelevant. It needs to be sampled at the dwelling

      Indoor sources don't burn hot enough to produce nitrogen oxides.

      --
      http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  33. Re:Childhood obesity linked to bullshit in newspap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    It's due to people consuming that crap

    If that was really true Faux News viewers would be the fattest of the fat.

  34. Childhood obesity linked to... by randomErr · · Score: 5, Informative
    --
    You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
    1. Re:Childhood obesity linked to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In summary, we don't really know yet.

    2. Re:Childhood obesity linked to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PRetty much ALL of which sound more sensible than this one.

      Tough when you are late to the party, eh?

    3. Re:Childhood obesity linked to... by e3m4n · · Score: 1

      fucking excellent response! you didnt state any opinions, just the insanity of 'WE HAVE THE ANSWER NOW!' type articles. It reminds me how many times they flipped their stance on eggs.

    4. Re:Childhood obesity linked to... by dinfinity · · Score: 1

      WE HAVE THE ANSWER NOW! type articles

      They are the bane of science. Note that 'linked to' just implies the correlation, not the causation. It goes south when the retarded 'science reporters' say things such as 'High levels of nitrogen dioxide, which is emitted by diesel engines, in the first year of life led to significantly faster weight gain later, the scientists found'.
      That implies causation, something never done in the original paper ( https://ehjournal.biomedcentra... ).

      It reminds me how many times they flipped their stance on eggs.

      Who flipped their stance, exactly?
      It wasn't the scientists. It was the reporters, dietary advisory boards, health blogs and other people who benefit from bending the truth.

      When it comes to (food) science news, always look at the primary research. The rest is almost certain to be a misrepresentation of the truth.

  35. Re:Or you know, living in cities make you move les by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 1

    ??

    They're blaming nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen dioxide is not CO2.

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  36. It's just an example by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    but at the end of the day bad air impacts your ability to exercise across the board.

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  37. Right by argStyopa · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ....because Nairobi street kids are famously obese?

    "...The scientists took a series of other factors into account, including gender, ethnicity and parental education, and think it is unlikely that variations in diet could explain the strong link found...."

    I'd suspect confounding factors like poverty, urbanization, and THOSE impacts on peoples' diets in the early years of life (or the diets of their nursing mothers) before I'd point a finger at the trucks driving by.

    Don't get me wrong, I think early childhood development is probably stunted by particulates, NOx, etc *particularly* from diesel vehicles, but I think this study is merely finding correlation.

    --
    -Styopa
  38. Dumbest shit I have read today by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Scientists are losing their credibility with every report they put out.

  39. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The subjects are ingesting more calories than their bodies need. That's why they become obese. It's that simple.

    This is just stating the obvious while explaining nothing.

    Of course fat people eat more. But WHY do some people eat more than others? And why have obesity rates TRIPLED since the 1980s? And why is there a huge disparity in obesity rates between different income levels and different ethnicities? And why have obesity rates soared in some countries, while barely changing in others?

    Meaningless tautologies like "people are fat because they eat more" explains none of that.

  40. No problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I read giving kids sugary drinks counteracts the effect of nitrogen dioxide.

  41. Ummmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a pretty common observation that many kids don't get off their fat asses and go play outside anymore. When your gluttonously indulgent kid's face is stuck in a game or computer screen every free waking moment or else they can't stand to be alive or people can't stand to be around them then the result is fairly predictable.

  42. What a joke! by nanospook · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People and kids are obese because our food supply has become contaminated with huge amounts of sugar and carbs. A huge number of American's are now diabetic as a result. The drug, foods, and medical corporations are all in cahoots on this. That there is no outcry from the government is in my opinion, because the corps are running the show.. https://www.cdc.gov/media/rele...

    --
    Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
    1. Re:What a joke! by houghi · · Score: 1

      Not only that. People also walk less. A lot less. When I used to have a car, I walked 10m to my car, drove to work. Parked right next to the elevator. Walked 10m to the elevator.

      Without a car, I walk 500m to the train station, 500m to the metro station, 100 to the elevator. So I walk already a LOT more. So the carfumes are correlation, not causation.

      But the sugar is a HUGE factor as well.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  43. I think I've pointed this out on this forum before by rsilvergun · · Score: 0, Troll

    But over and over again science is finding that people's decisions aren't really their own in this area (and others).


    If anything we're still swinging too hard towards the Personal accountability direction. Other countries with more social safety and support networks consistently out score us on every metric (except number of billionaires, we're tops there). It's puritanicalism, and it's never worked. Any more than trickle down economics does.

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  44. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by religionofpeas · · Score: 2

    Manure burns because cellulose is very hard to digest.

    high fat high protein diet == low obsesity

    That's mostly because people eat less on such a diet. It makes you feel full for longer. Try eating a block of cheese, and then watch your poop the next day. Most likely it is perfectly normal, indicating that pretty much all of the fat was absorbed.

    high carb diet == obsesity

    Also not true. Plenty of people around the world eat (or ate) a high carb diet and are perfectly lean.

    The things that make you fat are usually foods that are both sweet and fat. Try eating a bowl of plain sugar. It's disgusting. Try eating a bowl of plain cream. Not very appetizing either. Now mix them together, chill them, and you have ice cream. All of a sudden, you can eat both bowls.

  45. Re:Mindless reactionary or brown energy shill? by roc97007 · · Score: 2

    Wow. You can always tell when it's an election year.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  46. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by bogaboga · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Of course fat people eat more.

    Not awlays. Be careful here...

    But WHY do some people eat more than others?

    Because food is cheaper than ever before...

    And why have obesity rates TRIPLED since the 1980s?

    See above; plus the increased drinking of sugars and sodas since the 80s.

    And why is there a huge disparity in obesity rates between different income levels and different ethnicities?

    All of the above; plus, it depends on where these ethnic people are found. Black Africans in East Africa are of the "thin build." Their "cohorts" in the USA for example are primarily obese. Sad but true. Those in Africa consume less to no processed foods, eat generally less and are more physically active.

    And why have obesity rates soared in some countries, while barely changing in others?

    It's soared in "rich" countries because of the above and the fact that these days, people do not necessarily burn more calories while working. Automation has a lot to do with what we see.

  47. AIDS linked to being a homosexual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    woah woah woah slow down you monster bigot! just because theres irrefutable evidence doesn't make it true!

  48. LOL by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    Tell me how often you see kids in vehicles, with the WINDOWS DOWN. Probably almost never, because mommy is on the phone and doesn't want the noise LOL.

  49. Paint me skeptical, but not with lead paint by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    The research investigated the impact of air pollution from busy main roads, where diesel trucks are common, in the crucial first year of life. They found that by age 10, children suffering high early exposure were almost 1kg heavier on average than those with low exposure. The scientists took a series of other factors into account, including gender, ethnicity and parental education, and think it is unlikely that variations in diet could explain the strong link found.

    It appears they didn't actually check diet. Another thing, the closer you live to "convenient" roads and shops, the less exercise you may be likely to get. People in Japan and most of Europe seem much trimmer than Americans because they use public transportation more. With public transportation, you still have to walk the first and last mile (roughly) to get to and from the mode of transportation. They walk more, including children.

  50. UBF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about Universal Basic Food instead of UBI. You get an allocation of good healthy food for free. Any food you wish to purchase beyond your UBF is extremely expensive.

  51. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by SirSlud · · Score: 1

    There is this perpetual challenge that humans have to combat the desire to believe or need that problems only have one cause.

    It's emotional and intellectual. Consider yourself an excellent example of the problem.

    --
    "Old man yells at systemd"
  52. Climate change is the modern whitch hunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    thats all folks

  53. Re: I think I've pointed this out on this forum be by c6gunner · · Score: 0

    Yeah, science found that other people are forcing you to eat. Sure it did.

    This article is crap. I've been to places where the diesel fumes in the air are only slightly less anoying than the smell of raw sewage and burning garbage. Places where the particulate count on a good day makes Los Angeles air seem absolutely pristine in comparison. This article would have us believe that their obesity rates should be off the charts, and yet the number of fat people I saw in any given day could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Why? People eat less, and exercise more. But that's not really their decision, right? It's all just fucking magic.

  54. It's the air pollution! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And not all those Big Macs you've been eating all day long while sitting in the same spot on your couch playing with your smartphone instead of doing actual exercise.

  55. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

    I would agree with you except I already know that after pregnancy women can experience varying side effects that cause issues with weight gain and loss out side of the expected results of diet and exercise. Although that has nothing to do with childhood obesity conditions like gastro intestinal hyperpermeability and hypothyroidism do exist.

  56. Here's the methodology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Many individual risk factors for BMI growth, such as asthma and other respiratory conditions, individual and neighborhood/community level socio-economic indicators, smoking (both personal and second hand smoke), and numerous built environment variables around the home and school, were also tested as confounders... final model was developed by including a set of basic design variables (race, ethnicity, gender, cohort of enrollment, and community) and any other additional confounders. Confounders were selected if they had a bivariate association with the outcome (p 0.2) and they changed the effect of interest – traffic density – by at least 10% in either of the gender specific effects at each buffer distance (i.e., 150, 300, and 500 m). ... Given what is known about the association between lower socioeconomic position and higher traffic exposures in California (Green, et al., 2004), some of the effects observed here may be confounded by dietary variables that are also associated with lower socioeconomic status, such as sugar and fats (Drewnowski, 2007). Our models did control extensively for socioeconomic status in the home and neighborhood, so although possible, it is unlikely that residual confounding relating to social status is present in the models. Finally, indicators of physical activity available to us for this cohort (participation in team sports and time spent outside) did not explain the effect of traffic,

  57. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by iggymanz · · Score: 1

    nope, you can eat a diet of no cellulose and feces will still burn.

    plain cream? I eat greek yogurt with no flavoring.

    nope, historically people did NOT eat a high carb diet, look it up. agriculture with grains are a recent thing.

    as for eating a bowl of plain sugar, plenty of people essentially are doing that with "breakfast cereal", junk food snacks (that go to sugar), soda pop (liquid sugar with flavoring), etc.

    running your blood sugar high will cause insulin resistance and obesity

  58. Causation? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Correlation does not indicate CAUSATION.

  59. Junk Science by vanyel · · Score: 1

    It's junk science like this that helps fuel the anti-science sentiment that's all too popular these days...

  60. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    Because food is cheaper than ever before...

    Yet obesity is worst in people that can afford the least food. And obesity rates have soared in some poor countries with income levels far below the level where they were when obesity started to climb in the US. And obesity failed to rise in some countries where food became dramatically more affordable.

    The big decline in food prices happened in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Yet there was a negligible increase in obesity during that time. Then in the early 1980s, obesity rates began to climb dramatically.

    Black Africans in East Africa are of the "thin build." Their "cohorts" in the USA for example are primarily obese.

    Very few African Americans are of East African descent. Barack Obama is a rare exception. He, like most East-African-Americans, is skinny.

    It's soared in "rich" countries

    Obesity soared in some rich countries, but not in others. It also soared in some poor countries, but not in others.

  61. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And why is there a huge disparity in obesity rates between different income levels and different ethnicities?

    This surprises some people, but there is no reason to expect the statistics to be the same across the board when you group people by arbitrary criteria.
    Even if you had an answer it doesn't mean that equalizing obesity rates becomes a laudable goal. (An actual good goal is reducing obesity across the board.)

    You can keep digging until you find the answer you really want, that society is to blame and obese people are powerless to do anything about it.

  62. i call BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    sedentary lifestyles cause obesity. You know, playing video games and watching tv all day, that causes obesity. in general, lack of exercise aka sedentary lifestyle!

  63. Re: I think I've pointed this out on this forum be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your anecdote about "how many fat people you see" are as moronic and worthless to as your everyday nazi faggot dance. You don't matter, your word means nothing. No one will ever use anything you say as a factor in any decision.

  64. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Drogo007 · · Score: 2

    Nope, not that simple:

    https://www.scientificamerican...

    Same diet, different gut bacteria - one group gets fat, the other stays lean.

    The old (calories in - calories burned) model is overly simplistic and ignores a couple decades of research that shows that obesity is more than just a willpower deficit.

  65. Re:Childhood obesity linked to bullshit in newspap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's due to people consuming that crap

    If that was really true Faux News viewers would be the fattest of the fat.

    Yet CNN viewers like Michael Moore and Rosie Odonald run contrary to your theory... Imagine that...

  66. Bed Wetting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In other news, studies have shown Dihydrogen Monoxide is a major contributor to bed wetting.

  67. You don't need excessive exercise by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    but exercise still helps, and being able to exercise better helps too.

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  68. Lightning ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... produces more NOx than vehicles do. But that's OK because NOx compounds are critical for plant life.

    Might as well try to ban water because kids drown in it.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  69. Visting the EU highlightes Diesel dependence. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some places I visited in France (where most all cars on the road were Diesel) were... well gross. They are having big problems from the small particles in diesel exhaust and are moving to all gasoline engines in the near future (Why not electric? I think there industry is to far behind and missed out on rare earths.)

    But anyway yeah lots and lots of Diesel cars and yet.... NO FAT PEOPLE.

    1. Re:Visting the EU highlightes Diesel dependence. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Petrol cars produce more particulates than diesel cars these days. Petrols are especially good at the ultra-fine type. Diesel do produce more NOx, though.

  70. Pirates by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We need more Pirates to stave off global warming!

  71. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most notably, obesity did not increase in East Asian countries such as Japan and Korea. The reason here is because the cultures of these countries hate fat people. Parents and schoolmates relentlessly tease them. Japan has increased fines/fees/insurance premiums for companies with overweight employees.

    East Africans are skinny because East Africa is poor and can't afford a sedentary life. The West is fat because we're rich, sedentary, and don't fat shame like the East Asians.

    My younger sister is fat because she eats too much. I'm not because I eat less. My other sister was fat until stopped eating so much.

    It's that simple.

  72. re: So what role does government have, here? by King_TJ · · Score: 1

    I don't disagree with your premise. We have way too much convenient, easily accessible (and tasty!) food that has a lot of carbs and sugar in it.

    What I have a problem with is the idea it's government's job to step in, playing the role of parent, to force people to make "better food choices" by punishing people offering the less healthy options that are so popular.

    Heck, I know I eat way too much sugary and processed food, myself. But I wouldn't be happy at all if my government outlawed the stuff I'm buying or placed big restrictions (likely high taxes) on it. I know the reasons why I tend to choose these things, and a lot comes down to lack of free time. If you insist on only eating fresh foods, you run into the age-old problem that they don't keep well. Just try putting a tossed salad in the fridge for a couple of days and then take it back out to eat it. Doesn't look so appetizing anymore with the lettuce starting to turn brown around its edges, the tomatoes getting mushy, and water starting to seep out of the veggies and into a little pool at the bottom of the salad bowl. America doesn't really have a culture like some European countries where you can wake up, walk down the steps and outside, to buy some fresh bread or other items to make breakfast with from a street vendor right around the corner.

    I even live in a fairly rural area where I can drive a few miles and stop by a fresh produce stand that one of the local farmers has set up. I occasionally get some ears or corn or what-not from them. But still, my work and family life is usually way too hectic for me to make time for that. Most of the time, I'm driving quickly past them to pick up a kid that had to stay late after class and can't get a bus ride home, or running to one of 4 offices to fix the latest computer or tech crisis one of them is having..... things like that.

    To fix this, you'd really need a big cultural shift in America.... a change in attitude about what's expected of people in their daily work life and a change in the way people prefer to buy their groceries. Right now? It is what it is, so I just settle for eating healthy when it's viable and being thankful for the technology that allows frozen dinners and canned food that stays good until you're ready to eat it.

  73. Not for long by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Nitrogen dioxide pollution is at illegal levels in most urban areas in the UK

    Not for long, thanks to that lovely Mr Farage. He's always so nicely turned out, isn't he?

    We'll breathe whatever we want! Hydrogen chloride, benzene, ozone. That'll stick it to the barmy bureau belgocrats!

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  74. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, I'm a stress eater and - well never mind.

  75. Or is it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or is it that poorer people tend to buy cheaper housing that is closed to main roads and those same poor people have poor nutrition habits that they pass on to their children?

  76. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    nope, historically people did NOT eat a high carb diet, look it up. agriculture with grains are a recent thing.

    Agriculture with grains has been there for all of history.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  77. It's almost as if the world is a complex place by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    with multiple, often interlinking factors, resulting in a world where black and white determinations don't hold up under even a little scrutiny let alone scientific investigation...

    Naw, little porkers just need to eat less, amiright?

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  78. My car's 25 years old by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    and I'm not alone. Also, smog days (if you don't know, these are days you're not supposed to go outside to play because the smog is bad enough to impact long term health) have been increasing, not decreasing.

    We've lowered the rate at which things get worse, but we haven't stopped making them worse. I'll take that over doing nothing, but I'd kill for functional public transportation (and no, sacrificing 4 hours out of my day is not "function". I swear, buddy of mine was convinced there was a bus stop right outside our work. Two seconds on google later I showed him closest one was a brisk 10 minute walk away).

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  79. Dude they did that in the 60s by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    Sugar was the a wonder food. Sugared cereals originated there. There were little or no diet drinks and no Atkins or Paleo diets. The big upswing in obesity started in the 80s.

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  80. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by e3m4n · · Score: 1

    just like certain groups are more likely to get diabetes than others. Diabetes is pretty rampant in native american tribes. There's a lot of us with some amount of native american genetics in our blood. Obviously the excessive sitting we do, compared to 50yrs ago, only exacerbates a preexisting condition.

  81. Repeat after me: Correlation is not Causality by AntisocialNetworker · · Score: 1

    In a similar vein to the subject article, we've had evidence that "social deprivation" is responsible for obesity. Now social deprivation tends to mean poor housing, which collects around (among other place) city centres, roads and junctions and the like, polluted places. (If you can afford it, you live in the country, or overlooking a park or river). So there's a possible reverse causality for a correlation between obesity and pollution. There's far too much of this bad science based on misusing statistics.

  82. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by iggymanz · · Score: 1

    So what? Recorded history is only 5,000 years and agriculture 12,000. Tiny amount of the 200,000 years of modern humans have been around. Not what we're supposed to be eating.

  83. My first thought reading the title by PJ6 · · Score: 1

    was of some fat kid in the back seat of a car letting one rip so bad, you could see the windows vibrate.

  84. Re:There'a a very simple reason for the trend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's absolutely not meaningless to continue to state that excess caloric intake will result in obesity.

    Why? Because some people WILL eventually disassociate excess caloric intake with obesity as they search for the answers to the questions you've provided.

    For example, people will say their obesity is ONLY due to their genetics.

    People tend to support things that absolve their actions/responsibility.

  85. What surprise.... by no-body · · Score: 1

    Please note that it is _not_ the food industry producing over-sweetened products loaded with corn-based sweeteners and the side issue that the SAD (Standard American Diet) causes diabetics and consequently Alzheimer's!

    So, blaming something else seems to do the trick!