170 Obesity
Are changes in food intake associated with changes in obesity?
The UK National Food Survey collected data on food intake in the home
which could be analyzed to assess changes in food intake over 40 years.
The results from this database illustrated that although overall calorie con-
sumption increased between 1950 and 1970, since 1970 there has been a
distinct decrease in the amount people eat. This is shown in figure 8.5.
In their paper, “Obesity in Britain: Gluttony or Sloth?” Prentice and Jebb
(1995) examined the association between changes in food intake in terms
of energy intake and fat intake and changes in obesity. Their results indi-
cated no obvious association between the increase in obesity and the
changes in food intake. These results are shown in figure 8.6.
Therefore, using population data, there appears to be no relationship
between changes in food intake and changes in obesity.
Do the obese eat for different reasons than the nonobese?
Early studies of obesity were based on the assumption that the obese ate
for different reasons than people of normal weight (Ferster, Nurnberger,
and Levitt, 1962). Schachter’s externality theory suggested that although
all people were responsive to environmental stimuli such as the sight, taste,
Figure 8.5 Changes in food intake over 40 years. (Source: A.M. Prentice and
S.A. Jebb, Obesity in Britain: Gluttony or sloth? British Medical Journal, 311
(1995), pp. 437–9, reprinted by permission of The British Medical Journal
Publishing Group.)
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