Ten Putative Contributors to the Obesity Epidemic

By E. McAllister, N. Dhurandhar, S. Keith, L. Aronne, J. Barger, M. Baskin, R. Benca, J. Biggio, M. Boggiano, J. Eisenmann and 12 more. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 2009

725 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The obesity epidemic is a global issue and shows no signs of abating, while the cause of this epidemic remains unclear. Marketing practices of energy-dense foods and institutionally-driven declines in physical activity are the alleged perpetrators for the epidemic, despite a lack of solid evidence to demonstrate their causal role. While both may contribute to obesity, we call attention to their unquestioned dominance in program funding and public efforts to reduce obesity, and propose several alternative putative contributors that would benefit from equal consideration and attention. Evidence for microorganisms, epigenetics, increasing maternal age, greater fecundity among people with higher adiposity, assortative mating, sleep debt, endocrine disruptors, pharmaceutical iatrogenesis, reduction in variability of ambient temperatures, and intrauterine and intergenerational effects as contributing factors to the obesity epidemic are reviewed herein. While the evidence is strong for some contributors such as pharmaceutical-induced weight gain, it is still emerging for other reviewed factors. Considering the role of such putative etiological factors of obesity may lead to comprehensive, cause specific, and effective strategies for prevention and treatment of this global epidemic.

Subfields: Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, Physiology, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7bf566df69842f2497b3a7767340ada9dea9ed0e

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

1. T. I. Sørensen
2. Jennifer L Baker
3. D. Cummings
4. R. Puhl
5. B. Rokholm

In Physiology

1. A. Hruby
2. T. I. Sørensen
3. F. B. Hu
4. Jennifer L Baker
5. D. Cummings
6. R. Eckel
7. B. Rokholm
8. C. Apovian

In Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

1. A. Hruby
2. J. Dixon
3. T. I. Sørensen
4. F. B. Hu
5. Jeffrey I. Mechanick
6. D. Eisenberg
7. Jennifer L Baker
8. D. Cummings

Citations in the corpus

• Metabolism Disrupting Chemicals and Metabolic Disorders (2016, neutral): “A link exists between obesity, growth, and dopaminergic systems located within the central nervous system and in other tissues [199-201].”
• The Epidemiology of Obesity: A Big Picture (2015, background): “Although several viruses have been identified as potentially having a causal role in obesity [76], Ad-36 is among the most studied, being causally associated with adiposity in animals.”
• Joint international consensus statement for ending stigma of obesity (2020, background): “These factors do not require overeating or physical inactivity to explain excess weight [88] [89] [90] .”
• The levelling off of the obesity epidemic since the year 1999 – a review of evidence and perspectives (2010, methodology): “This approach was adopted in a study where the development in 10 putative causes usually not considered causes of the epidemic were compared to the secular trend in obesity prevalence (81).”