Nutrition Science and Everyday Application - beta v 0.1

410 ALICE CALLAHAN, PHD, HEATHER LEONARD, MED, RDN, AND TAMBERLY POWELL, MS, RDN
diet, they can cause both obesity and nutrient deficiencies. It’s estimated that 12 percent of
U.S. households are food insecure, and food insecurity is higher among Black (22 percent)
and Latino (18 percent) households. 3
Genetics
What about genetics? While it’s true that our genes can influence our susceptibility to
becoming obese, researchers say they can’t be a cause of the obesity epidemic. Genes take
many generations to evolve, and the obesity epidemic has occurred over just the last 40 to
50 years—only a few generations. When our grandparents were children, they were much
less likely to become obese than our own children. That’s not because their genes were
different, but rather because they grew up in a different environment. However, it is true
that a person’s genes can influence their susceptibility to becoming obese in this obesogenic
environment, and obesity is more prevalent in some families. A person’s genetic makeup
can make it more difficult to maintain energy balance in an obesogenic environment,
because certain genes may make you feel more hungry or slow your energy expenditure. 2
SOLUTIONS TO THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC
Given the multiple causes of obesity, solving this problem will also require many solutions at
different levels. Because obesity affects people over the lifespan and is difficult to reverse,
the focus of many of these efforts is prevention, starting as early as the first years of life.
We’ll discuss individual weight management strategies later in this chapter. Here, we’ll review
some strategies happening in schools, communities, and at the state and federal levels.
Support Healthy Dietary Patterns
Interventions that support healthy dietary patterns, especially among people more
vulnerable because of food insecurity or poverty, may reduce obesity. In some cases, studies
have shown that they have an impact, and in other cases, it’s too soon to know. Here are
some examples:
• Implement and support better nutrition standards for childcare, schools, hospitals,
and worksites. 9
• Limit marketing of processed foods, especially ads targeted towards children.
• Provide incentives for supermarkets or farmers markets to establish businesses in
underserved areas. 9