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adolescent obesity, and is it preventable? A recent talk by international nutrition expert Prof Barbara Livingstone, from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, highlighted the factors that fuel adolescent obesity and whether prevention is possible.
At the start of her lecture on adolescent obesity, Prof Livingstone pointed out that, “Technological innovation has overwhelmed our capacity of physiological adaptation”.
What this means is that “improvements” in every aspect of modern life (fast food, public transport, gadgets to save effort and energy expenditure, TV and computers and all the other 21st century must-have electronic equipment that prevents humans from participating in physical activity) have developed so fast that we as humans have not been able to keep up by adapting our physiology to prevent damage to our health (e.g. obesity and all its attendant diseases of lifestyle).
This was probably the most insightful statement that I have heard in a long time.
Perhaps one day, a few thousand years down the line, humans will have adapted to the overwhelming amount of energy that is available to us at every turn and the sedentary lifestyle that prevents us from using up excess energy.
However, what we need right now are solutions to prevent more of our adolescents from developing obesity.
Factors that fuel adolescent obesity
- Dietary energy density
- Increased portion size
- Consumption of sugar sweetened beverages
- Fast food consumption
- Sedentary lifestyle
While we automatically attribute weight gain in adolescents and also in adults to the above-mentioned factors, Prof Livingstone pointed out that research evidence is not as convincing as we would like to believe.
According to Prof Livingstone there is “moderately strong evidence from a (limited number) of high quality studies” that there is “a positive association between the energy density of the diet and increased fatness in children”.
Children and teenagers should be taught to eat foods that are predominantly nutrient dense, rather than energy dense. So drinking low-fat milk is a better option than drinking sugar-sweetened cold drinks.
Nutrient-dense foods include: fruit, vegetables, low-fat or fat-free milk, yoghurt, cottage cheese, high-fibre or unsifted grains and cereals, lean meat, fish, eggs, and legumes.
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