The Cause of the Obesity Epidemic?

I'm sure you've heard that Americans are getting fatter every year (though not in Marin - a recent newspaper article said that Marin's population was the "thinnest" in California - must be because of the great PE teachers we have here).

Many theories have been offered as to the reasons; increasing portion sizes at restaurants, too much junk food, lack of exercise, too much TV, too much time playing video games or too much time working at the computer.

It's been established that junk food is a major cause of American obesity. The average American's diet is 30% junk food. Favorite junk foods are sugary snacks and sodas.

Now, it turns out that the computer part may be right, too, but in an unexpected way.


In a recent study, a group of students were asked to complete three tasks: 1) sit and relax, 2) read and summarize a text and 3) complete a series of tests on a computer. After spending 45 minutes on each task, the students were allowed to eat as much as they wanted at a buffet.



The results of the study showed that, compared to the number of calories they ate after just sitting and relaxing, the students ate 203 more calories after summarizing a text and 253 more calories after taking tests on the computer.



Did the students eat all these extra calories because computer work required that much more energy than relaxing?

No. The computer work required only burned 3 extra calories. It did, however, alter the body's chemistry, making the students feel hungry.

How much extra is 253 calories? An average human burns between 2000 and 2500 calories per day. 253 calories is an extra 10%.