Chapter Fourteen THE MYTHOLOGY OF OBESITY Flashcards
How did Mark Nathan Cohen define an academic discipline?
A group of scholars who had agreed not to ask certain embarrassing questions about key assumptions.
What is critical to the success of any scientific enterprise according to Claude Bernard?
The ability to make accurate and unbiased observations.
What can distort the explanation of observations in scientific inquiry?
Incorrect or incomplete initial observations.
What hypothesis has dominated the science of obesity for the last sixty years?
Overweight and obesity result from excess calorie consumption and/or inadequate physical activity.
What contradiction is noted regarding overweight individuals’ calorie consumption?
Many fat people insist they eat no more than lean individuals, yet they remain overweight.
What percentage of Americans were classified as obese in the 1960s and early 1970s according to NHANES?
12–14 percent.
What trend occurred in obesity rates from the 1980s to the turn of the century?
Obesity rates rose by 8 percent in the 1980s and another 10 percent by the turn of the century.
Which demographic groups show higher obesity rates in the United States?
- African Americans * Hispanics * Lower income brackets * Poorly educated individuals.
What term did psychologist Kelly Brownell coin to describe American culture’s impact on obesity?
Toxic environment.
What is the primary factor attributed to the rise in obesity rates since the 1970s?
Increased calorie consumption.
What did NHANES report about calorie consumption changes from 1971 to 2000?
Men increased their calorie consumption by 150 calories per day; women by over 350 calories.
What did the USDA report about the American food supply’s caloric content from 1971 to 1997?
It increased from 3300 calories per day per capita to 3800 calories.
What was the conclusion of Roland Weinsier regarding obesity and fat intake?
The reduction in fat intake did not prevent the progression of obesity in the population.
What contradiction exists regarding physical activity and obesity during the obesity epidemic?
Americans were no less active at the end of the 1990s than at the beginning, despite rising obesity rates.
What was the estimated revenue of the health-club industry in 2005?
$16 billion.
What did the NHANES studies reveal about obesity among socioeconomic groups?
Obese women were six times more common at the lowest socioeconomic level than at the highest.
What does the Pima Indians’ case illustrate about obesity?
Obesity and overweight had been evident a century ago, prior to the nutrition transition.
Fill in the blank: The standard explanation for obesity among the Pima is that they have succumbed to _______.
prosperity and the toxic environment of American life.
True or False: The obesity epidemic is a recent phenomenon that began only in the last few decades.
False.
What did Marion Nestle conclude about the food and entertainment industries’ role in obesity?
They turn people with expendable income into consumers of aggressively marketed foods that are high in energy but low in nutritional value.
What has been the trend in obesity rates globally since 1980 according to the WHO?
Obesity rates have risen three-fold or more in some areas.
What dietary factors are suggested to reduce obesity in the Pima population?
A diet with less fat and more starch
NIH authority suggests that traditional dietary habits may help reduce unhealthy weight.
When did obesity among the Pima become evident?
A century ago, during the transition from relative abundance to extreme poverty.
Who studied the Pima tribe and reported on their obesity in the early 1900s?
Frank Russell and Aleš Hrdlika.
