Not that I want to say that people who are obese are freak shows, but the above picture is from a “freakshow” in 1890, just about 110 years ago. Chauncy Morlan, pictured above, was apparently quite a sight then.
Your grandparents’ parents were still living at that point. That really isn’t too far removed genetically speaking. My point is that if that type of body was “freakish” in 1890, it should be disturbing to us that it is becoming more commonplace to see every day in our era. It is more commonplace because the foods we are eating are that much farther removed from our ancestral diets. Maybe Morlan was predisposed to more fat storage, but other symptoms of Metabolic Syndrome–diabetes, myopia, and acne–were also commonplace then.
To me, this is a testament to the effects of living outside of the normal environment of the human genome. From Modeled Behavior:
Imagine, if you will, what society would look like if 100 years from now if what passed as spectacularly obese today would not even turn heads at the mall.
On the other hand, Tyler Cowen asks:
What would the circus goers of 1890 have thought if they were told that in the America of 2010 Chauncy Morlan would be unremarkable?
Again, obesity and other neolithic, physiological diseases cannot be explained with psychological causes. Sloth and gluttony don’t cause obesity. A diet outside of our genetically predetermined, optimal diet does.
Comments, anyone?
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