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This article is from the Research Concerning Big Folks FAQ, by sharon@ecs.ox.ac.uk (Sharon Curtis) with numerous contributions by others.

A4) Causes of Obesity

[BYD] G.A.Bray, B.York, J.Delany
"A survey of the opinions of obesity experts on the causes and treatment
of obesity"
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 1992, vol 55 (Supp 1),
pp. 151S--154S
They surveyed opinions of 50 obesity researchers, from Europe
and North America. Overall, genetic factors were considered to
be the most important cause of obesity.
The women tended to view lack of physical activity, carbohyrate
cravings and weight cycling as more significant than the men
did. Opinions as to treatments varied. Women preferred exercise
more highly; older researchers preferred low fat diets more
highly. All thought that serotonergic and thermogenic drugs were
effective, and that their usefulness would increase over the next
decade.

[Borj] M.Borjeson:
"The etiology of obesity in children"
Acta Pediatrica Scandinavia, 1976, vol. 65, 279--287

[Pri+] R.A.Price, R.J.Cadoret, A.J.Stunkard, E.Troughton:
"Genetic contributions to human fatness: An adoption study"
American Journal of Psychiatry, 1987, vol. 144, pp. 1003--1008

[St+1] A.J.Stunkard et al.:
"An Adoption Study of Human Obesity",
New England Journal of Medicine, 1986, vol. 314, pp. 193--198

[St+2] A.J.Stunkard et al.,:
"A Twin study of Human Obesity",
Journal of the American Medical Association, July 1986, vol. 256, pp. 51--54

[SHPM] A.J.Stunkard & J.R.Harris & N.L.Pederson & G.E.McClearn:
"The body-mass index of twins who have been reared apart",
New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 322, 1483--1487
They point out that it is known there is a genetic contribution
(studies of twins and adoptees/biological parents show
correlations, but not adoptees/adopting parents) but the
question is how much. They studied 93 identical twins
raised apart, 154 identical twins raised together, 218
fraternal twins raised apart and 208 fraternal twins raised
together (Swedish twins), and for the identical twins
raised apart, the intra-pair correlation coefficient was
0.70 for men, 0.66 for women. They conclude the genetic
contribution is substantial.

 

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