Suppose a country had very low rates of depression, and another had very high rates. Is that just brain chemistry? Or does maybe one country have problems that cause many people to have depression? Or to push subclinical tendencies into clinical territory?
The US is that but for obesity. Yes, absolutely some individuals have brain chemistry that predisposes them to this.
But also maybe it's related to the cheapest and easiest forms of food being McDonald's-tier shit and 64oz beverages that are literally so much sugar that it would be unpalatable were it not dissolved in acid and carbonated?
The US isn’t even the top 9. Obesity is a global epidemic of Western disease. The food isn’t the cause, it’s the symptom of the brain chemistry. If it isn’t available, yes, the disease may not present. But if available, due to hormones causing the drive, it presents. Like cigarettes (nicotine), like cocaine, like alcoholism. Same reward center.
Are we more likely to give GLP-1s to everyone? Or outlaw calorie dense, nutrition lacking products? I argue the former, based on all available evidence.
Nobody was suggesting solutions, but in regards to GLP-1 agonists as solving the 'problem' perfectly, no, it's just solving the symptoms. The problem is scientific advancement creating hyper palatable food and drink with no nutritional value and low satiety, combined with the food drive increases that comes with eating and drinking that food, combined with the removal of general fitness and mobility as a core requirement to being able to receive food and drink. I'm not saying there's a way to put back in the box but let's not kid ourselves that these drugs are a perfect solution either.
I think GLP-1s are a great hack until gene therapy can be used to fix the underlying genetic issue that leads to the brain chemistry expression requiring the temporary GLP-1 patch.
It can be manufactured inexpensively, scales up, and will be as common as insulin or Metformin.
All the countries above US have less than 1M population and generally poor countries. Saying that obesity is not related to the underlying social problems in the US showing this data is ridiculous.
> Rates of overweight and obesity increased at the global and regional levels, and in all nations, between 1990 and 2021. In 2021, an estimated 1·00 billion (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 0·989–1·01) adult males and 1·11 billion (1·10–1·12) adult females had overweight and obesity. China had the largest population of adults with overweight and obesity (402 million [397–407] individuals), followed by India (180 million [167–194]) and the USA (172 million [169–174]). The highest age-standardised prevalence of overweight and obesity was observed in countries in Oceania and north Africa and the Middle East, with many of these countries reporting prevalence of more than 80% in adults. Compared with 1990, the global prevalence of obesity had increased by 155·1% (149·8–160·3) in males and 104·9% (95% UI 100·9–108·8) in females. The most rapid rise in obesity prevalence was observed in the north Africa and the Middle East super-region, where age-standardised prevalence rates in males more than tripled and in females more than doubled. Assuming the continuation of historical trends, by 2050, we forecast that the total number of adults living with overweight and obesity will reach 3·80 billion (95% UI 3·39–4·04), over half of the likely global adult population at that time. While China, India, and the USA will continue to constitute a large proportion of the global population with overweight and obesity, the number in the sub-Saharan Africa super-region is forecasted to increase by 254·8% (234·4–269·5). In Nigeria specifically, the number of adults with overweight and obesity is forecasted to rise to 141 million (121–162) by 2050, making it the country with the fourth-largest population with overweight and obesity.
The US is that but for obesity. Yes, absolutely some individuals have brain chemistry that predisposes them to this.
But also maybe it's related to the cheapest and easiest forms of food being McDonald's-tier shit and 64oz beverages that are literally so much sugar that it would be unpalatable were it not dissolved in acid and carbonated?