Research shows where you eat might influence what you eat.
Today your BP correspondent is going to bite the bullet and weigh into the issue of obesity.
We usually take an “angels fear to tread” approach to this topic, but we have happened to come across an interesting study that may cast another a shaft of light onto how we have managed to get to where we currently are with this critical health concern.
But first we invite you to use your search engine of choice and look for vision of the crowds attending the opening day of Disneyland in California back in July 1955. Then compare those with images of the crowds at theme parks nowadays.
The contrast is stark. Among the thousands of middle Americans turning up to wonder at Walt’s genius back in the 1950s, almost none of them are obese. Fast forward to the 2020s and Walt Disney World could be renamed Fat City.
So while we are not going to attempt to explain why or how this has happened, the key point is it definitely has! The cameras do not lie.
One thing that might be playing a role in weight issues could as simple as where we live.
In a study released last week, titled Product of our environment? Place effects on Body Mass Index, Curtin University researchers posit that a person’s location can have a measurable influence on their body weight.
Publishing in the journal Social Science & Medicine, the boffins argue that local food environments and neighbourhood design can playing a significant role in shaping health outcomes.
Using data from the long-running Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, the study involved tracking a group of Australians across a 14-year period.
According to the research, folks who moved to a new area gradually adopted part of the typical weight profile of their new community, slowly gaining or losing weight to align more closely with the average weight of their new area.
“By following thousands of Australians year after year and using broad two-digit postcode regions to identify when they moved, we were able to see how changing location influenced their weight,” lead author PhD candidate Michael Windsor, from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, said in a media release.
“On average, about 15% of the difference in weight between regions can be explained by where people live, not just who they are.
“That tells us that local factors such as the availability of healthy food, the density of fast-food outlets, walkability and access to green space, are quietly, but powerfully influencing, people’s health.”
The study team suggested the research offered policymakers insights into how neighbourhood design could play a role in addressing our rising obesity rates.
“Individual choices matter, but the evidence shows that the places people live also have a significant influence. Effective policy must recognise both,” Mr Windsor said.
Noble sentiments indeed.
But we are talking property developers, planning authorities, local governments and bucketloads of money to be made building houses.
So I wouldn’t be dumping my shares in semaglutide manufacturers any time soon.
Send story tips and calorie-aware holiday feast recipes to Holly@medicalrepublic.com.au.
