Friday, August 29, 2008

The Stan theory on obesity

We keep hearing about the "obesity timebomb" - a rather tired phrase relating to the fact that people seem to be getting fatter these days and we've all seen dozens of suggestions as to why people are eating more, but there is one that seems to have been overlooked.

The relative warm climate we've enjoyed over the last 20 years or so.

No, I've not been converted to AGW - I still think the warming was entirely natural - but equally natural is for animals to take advantage of times of plenty and mild weather to feed and put on extra layers of fat in preparation for when it gets cold and food is harder to come by.

I think people are getting fatter for the simple reason that we still have our animal instincts - buried deep within us - and for many people that instinct is telling them that there is a period of intensely cold weather and severe shortages ahead. So they have been eating more, storing fat and adding layers to prepare themselves for that cold spell and period of scarce food.

Many scientists have been warning that the sun is heading into a "cool" phase and this may lead to mini-ice age conditions lasting for up to 50 years - a scenario which may see Britain enduring conditions similar to Dickensian times when the Thames regularly froze over.

Should these scientists be proved correct the fatties may yet have the last laugh on the preachy fatists.

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