Magda Szubanski
“A select group of world’s top researchers studying obesity‌ recently gathered [at] the Royal Society…arguing about ‌‌the causes of obesity.“
They reached no consensus.
BUT:
“The 3-day meeting was infused with an implicit understanding of what obesity is not: a personal failing. No presenter argued that humans collectively lost willpower around the 1980s, when obesity rates took off, first in high-income countries‌, then in much of the rest of the world. Not a single scientist said our genes changed in that short time. Laziness, gluttony‌‌ and sloth were not referred to as obesity’s helpers. In stark contrast to a prevailing societal view of obesity, which assumes people have full control over their body size, they didn’t blame individuals for their condition, the same way we don’t blame people suffering from undernutrition challenges, like stunting and wasting.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/opinion/obesity-cause.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Opinion | Scientists Don’t Agree on What Causes Obesity, but They Know What Doesn’t

Rates of obesity won’t budge as long as society views it as a personal issue.

The New York Times
Nov 21, 2022 at 8:14pmWeb
Show threadRogerSNov 21, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski can't help thinking certain additives in our food changed the way we digested food and processed energy. 🤔
Show threademem48Nov 22, 2022
@RogerS @MagdaSzubanski I'm blaming Soy. Soy is (almost) literally in everything processed that we eat. Apart from almost everything vegetarian, soy is used as a food additive in many products - as an emulsifier, thickener, flavour enhancer, in chocolate, margarine and cheese. It has become one of the most ubiquitous food additives. They even use soy flour in ordinary bread. A friend fed her baby soy milk when he was an infant. The child became the size of a Sumo wrestler.
Show threadMs DeborahNov 22, 2022
@emem48 @RogerS @MagdaSzubanski I suspect not
Show threadEncourageable EmpathNov 21, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski I was wondering if you have come across any studies on the rise of psychiatric medications linked with obesity? Eg. Antidepressants, antipsychotics etc..
Show threadQueen YnciNov 21, 2022
@Encoempa @MagdaSzubanski
I would love to find some more studies on this subject! I personally gained 40lbs due to a psychiatric medication. I did some reading and found out the medication actually changed my metabolism. I’m off the medication but losing the weight is slow going. I can honestly say that did not help my mental health at all!
Show thread@[email protected]Nov 21, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski big food subverts this fact https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/breastfeeding-reduces-child-obesity-risk-by-up-to-25-per-cent/ It is obvious when a group of world leaders do not even include Breastfeeding as part of the conversation What changed from the 90s onward? Exponential rise in Industry big food social engineering = decrease of Breastfeeding. Along with rise in other ultra processed foods. Yes this is an uncomfortable conversation. Truth is,🤱🏿🤱 needs better protection
Breastfeeding reduces child obesity risk by up to 25%, WHO finds - Baby Friendly Initiative

A World Health Organization (WHO) study of 16 countries across Europe has found that breastfeeding can cut the chances of a child becoming obese by up to 25%.

Baby Friendly Initiative
Show threadKatis TroficNov 21, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski I control my weight by not trashing the fridge .
Show threadSteve Kinlan models jocksNov 21, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski I have found if I start putting on weight I only have to stop drinking alcohol and increase exercise and it's fixed very quickly.
Show threadUPop2Nov 21, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski for me I’ve found it’s my gut micro biome. When I take out certain triggers I feel comfortable in my skin. My cravings don’t listen but I hate the aftermath.
Show threadStephNov 21, 2022

@MagdaSzubanski Why people getting fatter? In the 1980s Ancel Keys introduced the notion that a fatty diet makes you fat (it doesn’t -depends on the fat type) and it is connected with heart disease. He cherry picked data but the idea took on and to this day people still try eating low fat to lose weight.

Have those eggs and bacon for brekky! 🍳🥓

https://mndaily.com/233704/news/ft-keys/

Nutritionist Ancel Keys, once the pride of UMN research, presents a fat problem for modern science

The diet guru once traveled the globe and helped to establish a whole field, but a small and growing contingency takes different lessons from his tenure.

The Minnesota Daily
Show threadStephNov 21, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski
Show threadKazza3571Nov 21, 2022

@MagdaSzubanski
In the 1980's food industries started using more and more chemicals and additives and lots of sugar to make the processed foods last longer, taste better/ sweeter etc. Now add to this the take off of US and other countries fast food chains going global.

I would also argue that all of this correlates with there being more and more cases of childhood behavioural issues.

Show threadWoody  Nov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski Over processed food and glyphosate and plastics in the food chain. Obesity was brought to us by the big chemical companies.
Show threadSlavicaNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski Likely lots of contributing factors, such as lifestyle changes, more tech, less sleep, more stress, advancing age, working longer hours, less time for food prep at home, hormonal changes such as menopause (for women), eating too much convenience foods that are processed and full of chemicals, and eating foods high in sugar or fake sugar (for the energy boost). Microbiome is changing and we keep spiking insulin. Maybe a continuous glucose monitoring system could help some of us?
Show threademem48Nov 22, 2022

@MagdaSzubanski

is there at least agreement that obesity is the result of a large surfeit of calories when calories out is subtracted from calories in? Surely that's a starting point? (But I think that soy beans may be the culprit - it was around the 1980s that soy became absolutely ubiquitous in Western foodstuffs).

Show threadThinking ‘bout itNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski
Just finished reading Hilary Mantel’s memoir - Ghost on the Stair- she gained weight because of medications she took for her endiometriosis (sp?). If u needed a writer to elucidate the day to day humiliation that people face because of their size - Hilary’s your gal. Thank god she wrote like angel - I can’t balance the ledger - great gift v a well being. (Hey ain’t it terrific not running out of characters).
Show threadThinking ‘bout itNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski
What were the 3 things mentioned in your abc show that assist well-being - I know 2 - being grateful, mindfulness and ?
Show threadschoolingdianaNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski When junk food sugar filled cereals are cheaper than those with protein, and sugary drinks are cheaper than water and healthy teas? It’s a no brainer. I stopped eating cereals for breakfast over a decade ago. It’s my most protein packed meal (beans and cheese on a corn tortilla, nut butter sandwiches, and tuna sandwiches, for example). Some days I have salmon for breakfast. My eyesight has improved, too.
Show threademem48Nov 22, 2022
@schoolingdiana @MagdaSzubanski Nothing wrong with oatmeal (porridge) for breakfast. Cereal doesn't have to mean cornflakes or rice bubbles. AND porridge eaten daily reduces bad cholesterol.
Show threadschoolingdianaNov 22, 2022
@emem48 @MagdaSzubanski It just doesn’t stick with me for more than an hour. I’ve tried adding protein powder and chia seeds, but that maybe gives me 2 hours at most before my stomach is growling like a bear fresh out of hibernation. It’s my go-to for a late lunch, though, because I know I’ll still be starving in time for dinner/supper.
Show threadTheGrumpsterNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski you can be #Obese and #Happy. We're all individuals. I was obese for decades, but have lost a lot of weight in the past year. It hasn't made me happier, more confident or anything else. It's made me lighter, and taller, that's all.
Show threadElizabeth RaineNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski well said.
Show threadElizabeth RaineNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski I have previously read it was due to the rise in fast food and proliferation of fast food restaurants. Food Inc. and Supetsize Me explored this as a hypothesis.
Show threadNodrakNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski Google the "Twinkie diet." A professor was able to lose weight eating Twinkles which are a sugar heavy junk food. Calories are everything.
Show threadPragmaticLeftieNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski I believe it aligns with addition of maximum flavour in processed foods. Largely done by additives, salt, sugar and added fat. People stopped eating real food. But many other reasons make you susceptible. Low birth weight,PCOS, abuse, stress.
Show threadPragmaticLeftieNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski obesity took off in non western countries when our trashy processed food was introduced, including dairy.
Show threadTen Pound AuspolNov 22, 2022

@MagdaSzubanski This post deserves to be boosted to the moon. Well put.

The rise of increased processing of food has significantly impacted our bodies in the industrialised world, and so has industrial world poverty. Poor people don't make "bad" food choices - highly processed food is the only affordable, accessible option to many poor people, especially in food deserts. If we want to "beat" obesity, we need to beat poverty.

Show threadPru O’DeaNov 23, 2022
@TenPoundAusPol @MagdaSzubanski yes exactly. Deliberate?
Show threadPru O’DeaNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski I know what worked for me….
Not recommended…..
Grief
I lost it all.
Sorry, it was that I couldn’t eat carbs….the weight just dropped off me….and sugar. Just couldn’t look at it
Show threadPru O’DeaNov 23, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski but I was eating fat. Who knew
Show threadPru O’DeaNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski it’s never all that laziness thing.
I know. I tried everything before husband died. But centrelink starving me helped…..they were brutal.
Show threadScott GrimmettNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski Hi Everyone, let's not jump on Magda's post with simple, single-cause, solutions. Magda's a smart lady and so are scientists (generally!) If there was a simple solution it would have been found by now.
Show threadLittlefeetfromNewarkNov 22, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski so sad… I have been weighing & measuring my delicious food for 34 years! No thing between my 3 meals but coffee, tea, or diet soda, and water of course! I commit my food written down by calling or emailing my sponsor every day! After 4 of my obese brothers & sisters died of cancer before 65 I am grateful for my 78 years. Thousands on this program known as “Greysheet.org” owe their lives & healthy diabetes free bodies to this program- like AA for alcohol this program prevents the first bite of sugar or carbohydrates (white flour products). Program around for over 50 years with multiple live & inphone meetings daily, yet doctors don’t catch on!
Show threadHincey & the Hound🐕🌵🍰Nov 26, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski Thanks for sharing this, Magda. More people need to understand it’s not as simple as ‘calories in calories out.’ This is a wonderful new book that helped change my attitude toward body size and diet culture.
Show threadCrystille Brielle AnnesleyNov 26, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski I used to do earthing years ago when there weren't any studies done on it. Around that time I lost considerable weight - I thought it may have been due to my qigong class. I was obese and the weight just dropped off. I lost my earthing attachment wire for my earthing mat and was only able to procure it recently. I'm back earthing. My blood glucose has gone down after my recent diagnosis - only have to take half a dose of diabetes med Metformin only after a week of earthing. Its got rid of neuropathy in my toe. I enjoy deep sleep earthed on my grounding mat at night again after two years of insomnia and broken sleep during covid lockdowns. Anyway this doctor discusses how you can lose weight with earthing. So I now believe why I lost weight in the past was quite possibly due to earthing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaBQY4tfpoo
Grounding To Boost Metabolism and Lose Weight (Dr. Laura Koniver, M.D. The Intuition Physician)

YouTube
Show threadKazrenNov 30, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski I'm truly thankful for you taking up the heavy (no pun intended) task of shouting about the obesity epidemic. Personally I've shed 45kg over the last two years, using just real food. There is a growing community in Australia following Susan Pierce Thompson's Bright Line Eating program. We support each other in the quest for health and happiness because we know that connection is the opposite of addiction. We meet every Tue night 7pm Bris time via Teams to talk about all of the stuff that gets in the way of our body happiness. You would be very welcome to join us. My email is [email protected] if you'd like the Teams link. It's great being among people who really understand. No weights or measures.
Show threadNicko13Dec 3, 2022
@MagdaSzubanski I no longer judge anyone on appearance but seriously this tweet deserved a joke. Hey, what’s a mastodon comment called now? A masturbate?