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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.
and eating too much. probably more the fault.
High Fructose Corn Syrup? Make since given the ethanol added.
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.
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.
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I wondered if there was something like kids in rural areas are more likely to play outside than those in urban environments.
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.
sunspots have risen too.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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).
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...)?
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.
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.
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!?
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...
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
So, what's wrong with this graph, which says imports are around 7 million barrels/day ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Sources of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide:
https://www3.epa.gov/region1/airquality/images/nox.gif
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
Childhood obesity linked to Poor School Performance and Coping Skills
Childhood obesity linked to antibiotics
Childhood obesity linked to hip disease in adolescence
Childhood obesity linked to More Junk Food Ads
Childhood obesity linked to poverty, parenting style Childhood Obesity Linked to a Mother's Weight Gain in Pregnancy
Childhood Obesity Linked to lakc of sleep
Childhood obesity linked to eating food from animals treated with antibiotics
Childhood obesity linked to Mutant Gean
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
??
They're blaming nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen dioxide is not CO2.
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
but at the end of the day bad air impacts your ability to exercise across the board.
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....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
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.
It's a lovely graph but it ends in 2012.
Here's one that has a few extra years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Table-ized A.I.
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"
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.
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
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.
It's junk science like this that helps fuel the anti-science sentiment that's all too popular these days...
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.
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
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.
Now plot those against rentals of 'Last Tango In Paris'.
Have gnu, will travel.
but exercise still helps, and being able to exercise better helps too.
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Might as well try to ban water because kids drown in it.
Have gnu, will travel.
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.
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."
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.
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."
Agriculture with grains has been there for all of history.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
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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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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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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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.
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.
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.
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.
was of some fat kid in the back seat of a car letting one rip so bad, you could see the windows vibrate.
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!