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Cover image of The Evolution of Obesity
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The Evolution of Obesity

Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin

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In this sweeping exploration of the relatively recent obesity epidemic, Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin probe evolutionary biology, history, physiology, and medical science to uncover the causes of our growing girth. The unexpected answer? Our own evolutionary success.

For most of the past few million years, our evolutionary ancestors' survival depended on being able to consume as much as possible when food was available and to store the excess energy for periods when it was scarce. In the developed world today, high-calorie foods are readily obtainable, yet the propensity to store fat is...

In this sweeping exploration of the relatively recent obesity epidemic, Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin probe evolutionary biology, history, physiology, and medical science to uncover the causes of our growing girth. The unexpected answer? Our own evolutionary success.

For most of the past few million years, our evolutionary ancestors' survival depended on being able to consume as much as possible when food was available and to store the excess energy for periods when it was scarce. In the developed world today, high-calorie foods are readily obtainable, yet the propensity to store fat is part of our species' heritage, leaving an increasing number of the world's people vulnerable to obesity. In an environment of abundant food, we are anatomically, physiologically, metabolically, and behaviorally programmed in a way that makes it difficult for us to avoid gaining weight.

Power and Schulkin’s engagingly argued book draws on popular examples and sound science to explain our expanding waistlines and to discuss the consequences of being overweight for different demographic groups. They review the various studies of human and animal fat use and storage, including those that examine fat deposition and metabolism in men and women; chronicle cultural differences in food procurement, preparation, and consumption; and consider the influence of sedentary occupations and lifestyles.

A compelling and comprehensive examination of the causes and consequences of the obesity epidemic, The Evolution of Obesity offers fascinating insights into the question, Why are we getting fatter?

Reviews

Reviews

Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin take a frankly Darwinian approach... The evolutionary account of obesity is a powerful one—indeed, almost too powerful.

Elbowing the weight-loss guides on 'health' bookshelves, is a spate of new, more diet-neutral books that track the sociology of obesity, including... The Evolution of Obesity.

Goes far beyond anything else that is available on obesity... Power and Schulkin deserve much credit for their bold attempt to combine evolutionary and reductionist explanations, and for their unflinching acknowledgment of complexity.

An excellent and comprehensive explanation for the increased incidence of obesity... Power and Schulkin suggest that there is a mismatch between our evolved biology and our modern life—the advantages of fat storage in the past have become disadvantages today.... This informative and easily read book is an important companion for students, fellows, and clinicians who wish to understand the causes of the obesity epidemic and how obesity might lead to metabolic disease.

This will be an extremely useful introduction for graduate and undergraduate students and for mainstream researchers to set the wealth of endocrine and metabolic data connected with obesity into a wider framework of understanding.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
408
ISBN
9781421409603
Illustration Description
16 halftones, 46 line drawings
Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: Human Biology, Evolution, and Obesity
1. Humanity on the Fat Track
2. Our Early Ancestors
3. The Evolution of Meals
4. Evolution, Adaptation, and Human Obesity
5. Evolutions

Preface
Introduction: Human Biology, Evolution, and Obesity
1. Humanity on the Fat Track
2. Our Early Ancestors
3. The Evolution of Meals
4. Evolution, Adaptation, and Human Obesity
5. Evolutions, Adaptation, and the Perils of Modern Life
6. Energy, Metabolism, and the Thermodynamics of Life
7. Information Molecules and the Peptide Revolution
8. Appetite and Satiety
9. Getting Ready to Eat
10. The Paradox of Feeding
11. The Biology of Fat
12. Fat and Reproduction
13. Genetic and Epigenetic Correlates of Obesity
Conclusion: Surviving the Perils of Modern Life
References
Index

Author Bios
Featured Contributor

Michael L. Power, Ph.D.

Michael L. Power is a senior research associate at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and an animal scientist at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.
Featured Contributor

Jay Schulkin, Ph.D.

Jay Schulkin is a research professor of physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University and research associate at the Clinical Neuroendocrinology Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health. He is also the director of research at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
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