Subdude Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Most overweight city, most air conditioned city...I wonder. Sleep loss, air conditioning may be making us fat By Amy Norton 1 hour, 27 minutes agoNEW YORK (Reuters Health) - "Super-sized" fast food meals and TV time shouldn't take all the blame for the U.S. obesity problem, according to a research review published Tuesday. In fact, a group of researchers contend, a number of aspects of modern living -- from lack of sleep to exposure to environmental chemicals to living with air conditioning -- may be feeding Americans' weight woes....Another factor potentially weighing Americans down is air conditioning. The body burns calories when forced to regulate its own temperature and, Allison noted, people tend to eat less in hot, humid weather.Link to article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Phew! Good to know it's the A/C and not the Blue Bell what's porking me up! I can live without A/C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brijonmang Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I blame Canada... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Damn A/C ! All these years I thought it was the Buckets o' Cola and Greasy french fries. Thank Goodness I was wrong. PASS ME THE DOUBLE CHEESEBURGERS MAMA ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Most overweight city, most air conditioned city...I wonder.Granted, the article came from Reuters and has been dumbed down to suit the intellectual capabilities of all but the most dull of our population, but I didn't see any evidence of differentiation between correlation and causality...especially where sleep deprivation is concerned.I pull frequent all-nighters and most-of-the-nighters and can attest that their assertion that people eat more when they stay awake more is indeed correct. However, in the process of staying up all night, I'm burning calories. Perhaps the calorie intake is justified along with the extra calorie expenditure associated with being awake and active.As far as air conditioning is concerned, the trend seems to make sense in a causal way, but I have to wonder just how what the marginal effect is. How many pounds of extra fat does a person gain by having the temperature set at 75 degrees instead of 80 degrees? I have a hunch that most people would knowingly make the choice to carry an extra five pounds rather than turn up the thermostat five degrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 If sleep is one of the deciding factors in obesity, how much fatter would we Houstonians be if we didn't have AC on Summer nights? Holy crap, I'd weigh 600 lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desirous Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 If sleep is one of the deciding factors in obesity, how much fatter would we Houstonians be if we didn't have AC on Summer nights? Holy crap, I'd weigh 600 lbs.No you wouldn't, you'd sweat out 450 out of those 600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MexAmerican_Moose Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Air Conditioning and Video Games are a perfect combination that makes kids fat. Whatever happened to playing basketball at the local park or street football on the street? Me and my friends used to do this all the time because we couldn't afford to buy a video game system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Hizzy! Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Here's a small maybe narrow-minded take on obesity...I actually think overeating and poor diet are the real culprits. Of course, I realize that I'm probably shuffling without a full deck but I'm going to go with that instead of all the other annual causes that you read about it.Don't laugh too hard at me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I actually think overeating and poor diet are the real culprits. i tend to agree - from the article: "That's not to say that diet and exercise aren't important, said report co-author Dr. David B. Allison of the University of Alabama at Birmingham However, he told Reuters Health, the evidence linking obesity to food industry marketing and lack of gym class is circumstantial" well, yeah, everything is circumstantial - from choices about food and exercise, to physiological problems with gaining weight. ANYthing can be attributed to ANYthing else as matter of circumstance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston1stWordOnTheMoon Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I eat just about anything that slows down. It has nothing to do with A/C, but more to do with traveling to oddball places :) Eating lots of stuff and traveling on airplanes, combined with lots of sleeping, can be a key to getting fat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I eat just about anything that slows down. It has nothing to do with A/C, but more to do with traveling to oddball places :) Eating lots of stuff and traveling on airplanes, combined with lots of sleeping, can be a key to getting fat Sound like a biography to anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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