STRESS, OBESITY AND SMALLER BRAIN

Some people claim they do not know why there is an epidemic of obesity. It is not a mystery. It is not because people do not know how to eat better food. People who smoke do know about the dangers of smoking but still smoke because it makes them feel less stressed at least for a brief moment or two.

Increasingly, there has been more and more pressure in human lives with abusive powers (at work, particularly) but also everywhere if you look and care to observe. Brave and intelligent individuals who take action, such as whistle-blowers find themselves defeated by the system. It is only in films that these characters get recognized and sail into the sun set. Increased social control, decreased employment opportunities, and decreased social status for many millions of people are associated with variables such as obesity, diabetes, stroke and high blood pressure.

So if the above average individuals can fail what chances does the rest of the population have?

It is known that stress and being out of control over one's destiny causes increased production of a hormone cortisol. This is to increase the capacity of body for the fight - it raises blood sugar and enables organism to store fat more efficiently. It also kills brain cells. Obese people have lower brain volume. The reduction in volume is 4-8%.

Thus mental stress kills people in a number of ways not obvious to those who have judgmental attitudes to fat people.

What does it say about world governments and the effectivness of their policies? You decide. Who needs statistics? Walking down the decaying high streets of many towns and observing passers by is quite enough.