Report Beliefs About Causes of Obesity May Impact Weight, Eating Behavior

[tom_mai78101]

Whether a person believes obesity is caused by overeating or by a lack of exercise predicts his or her actual body mass, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Obesity has become a pressing public health issue in recent years, with two-thirds of U.S. adults classified as overweight or obese and similar trends unfolding in many developed nations. Researchers Brent McFerran of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and Anirban Mukhopadhyay of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology wondered whether individual beliefs might play a role in these trends.

From an initial online survey, they discovered that people seem to subscribe to one of two major beliefs about the primary cause of obesity:

“There was a clear demarcation,” says McFerran. “Some people overwhelmingly implicated poor diet, and a roughly equal number implicated lack of exercise. Genetics, to our surprise, was a far distant third.”

McFerran and Mukhopadhyay wanted to dig deeper to see if the pattern could be replicated and, if so, what implications it might have for behavior. They conducted a series of studies across five countries on three continents.

Read more here.

 

[tom_mai78101]

Important part:

A study with Canadian participants revealed that participants who linked obesity to lack of exercise ate significantly more chocolates than those who linked obesity to diet. And a study with participants in Hong Kong showed that participants who were primed to think about the importance of exercise ate more chocolate than those primed to contemplate diet.

 

[Accname]

I think both are reasons, but the lack of exercise is more important because physical exercise has many other benefits then just losing weight.

 

[camelCase]

I think all three are reasons =P
But regular exercise and a good diet should overcome even genetics. I was born a fat kid.

But I walk with a 10kg weight on my back for about an hour or so everyday. I'm only 52kg now (I'm 166cm tall). I walk that long because it's how long it takes to walk home from the nearest shopping mall. I'm walking instead of taking a bus, cab or car because that one hour is exactly the time I need to study Japanese through an audio-book.

 

[Accname]

I was born a fat kid.

your poor mother...

 

[FireCat]

I think both are reasons, but the lack of exercise is more important because physical exercise has many other benefits then just losing weight.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said.