In the "No Kidding" category researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN completed a study that stated that obese people tend to be less mobile/active than lean people. Really?? Researchers used specially designed underwear to track the movements (haha - I said movements) and patterns of the test subjects. In all seriousness this is a fascinating study of the epidemic that is obesity. "There seems to be, in some people, a biological drive to be seated," said lead researcher Dr. Jim Levine"
Why don't obese people just get out there and do something about their weight? Is it sloth?
"The researchers speculate that obese individuals may respond differently to stimuli that encourage leaner folk to get moving. "Right now we just don't know the underlying mechanism, but it does seem to be biologically driven," Levine said. "It's remarkably consistent."
What does this mean to us as a culture? How do we create an environment that encourages movement?
"We have to remember that biology hasn't changed in the past 50 years, but obesity rates have skyrocketed," he said. "So there's obviously some huge environmental change towards inactivity that's allowed people with this genetic predisposition to sit more."
Increased food intake is blamed for most of the enormous rise in obesity numbers, but failing inactivity plays a significant role as well. How big of a role does this play? Researchers will continue to look into the ways we can decrease this killer.
Hmmmm....very interesting turn there Wafl...fidgety people burn more fat?? Doesn't suprise me, still though...some of those types can drive you crazy!! With the rise in people with ADD...I am suprised the obesity numbers are as high as they are.
Posted by: a.brain | 02/03/2005 at 03:01 PM
Found another thing that our buddies at the Mayo Clinic have discovered:
"Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have determined that it's not the trips to the gym, but the everyday pacing and fidgeting that might help determine whether someone's fat or thin. If you fidget, sway, or pace back and forth enough during the year, you could trim off an extra 33 pounds."
Posted by: AmyWafl | 02/03/2005 at 08:49 AM
That is freakin' fascinating! I'm thinking maybe there's a Mormon company out there already designing special underwear that can be part of this project to track the fat as*es of fat people.
Here's a theory, video games, cars, desk jobs, and the church are to blame for obesity. The first few for obvious reasons, the church because it refuses to call gluttony a sin any more, and sanctions obesity while decrying smoking, drinking, and homosexuality. Maybe if being a fat*ss was decried with the same spiritual fervor as those other things, we'd have a thinner society.
It would be a good start anyway, I wouldn't have to listen to fat pastors preach while thinking the whole time, "I wonder if their genetically predisposed, or if they simply can't say no to food. I wonder if that inability affects their lives in other ways...gosh, it's hard to take all that they say seriously with all this going on in my head..."
Video games should come equipped with an exercise bike. Pedaling the bike would provide the power to play the game. You stop pedaling, you stop playing. Equip every fat person's TV with the same technology.
Rant, rant, rant, rant. I'm pi**ed off today.
Posted by: cancer | 01/28/2005 at 02:28 PM
Turns out this Dr Levine is just a busy little beaver...this story should fit the well-being, tech and entertainment part of this site:
ROCHESTER, MINN. -- A Mayo Clinic-led study that appears in the Jan. 3, 2002 edition of Nature found that a new high-definition technology that involves measurement of the heat patterns created by the face accurately detected lying in more than 80 percent of cases studied.
The new high definition technology involves the measurement of the heat patterns created by the face; these heat patterns change dramatically with lying.
A research team lead by James Levine, M.D., a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, and supported by Ioannis Pavlidis, Ph.D., Honeywell Laboratories, based their work on the concept that people about to perform such deceptive acts give off physiological signals, such as excessive blood flow to certain areas of the face. When these signals are detected, via high definition thermal imaging equipment, they can significantly assist authorities in detecting deception.
The advanced thermal imaging technology was developed as part of a collaborative effort between Mayo Clinic and Honeywell Laboratories, the global research and development organization for Honeywell International.
"The technology represents a new and potentially accurate method of lie detection," says Dr. Levine. "The development holds promise for practical application in high-level security operations, such as airport security and border checkpoints.
Part of the story they left out:
Interviewer: Dr Levine what made you gain interest in this 'technology of lying '?
Levine: A patient of mine during an obesity study stole a pack of my ding-dongs. That rat-b@$&^rd ate the whole pack...er, ah, I mean clinically he'd shown propensity towards cleptomania-pigouttery which is the uncanny sense of desire to eat all ding-dong cream filled goodies in sight.
Pretty interesting what you can find on the internet, huh?
Shadow out!
Posted by: Shadow | 01/28/2005 at 01:46 PM