Greed, not laziness, is to be blamed for the soaring obesity rates throughout the developed world, says WHO study.

WHO collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention in Australia have found that over the past thirty years average calorific intake in people has increased by 500 calories a day while their exercise levels have changed little. The study is the first major piece of research to quantify the relative contribution of food and exercise habits to the obesity epidemic. The researchers based their findings on an analysis of US data – the study compared data from 1970s and the early 2000s, and found that diet of children contained 350 more calories while adult diets rose by 500 calories. If exercise planes had not changed at all, the weight of the normal adult would have amplified by an average of 24 pounds.

But, the true figure was four pounds lower, suggestive of exercise levels must have essentially increased slightly. The study found the average US child is 9 lb heavier than those born in 1970s while adults weighed 19 lb more.

For the US population, return to the 1970s levels, children would have to cut intake by about 350 calories a day – equal to a can of fizzy drink and a small portion of fries, and adults by about 500 calories – about the same as a burger.

This is a call to focus attention on energy intake.  There is no evidence that a marked reduction in physical activity contributes to the epidemic.

Could a mother’s love lies at the root of the Obesity outbreak that storm in many parts of the world?  A new research says mothers who miss signs of satiety in their new-born tend to over feed them, causal to excess weight gains during the six to twelve month period.

96 low income Black and Hispanic mothers, who preferred to formula feed completely, were registered in the study by Rutgers University Nutritional Scientists.  Data was collected for the period of an initial interview and three home visits at three, six and 12 months.  In the course of home visits, feedings were observed, the mothers were questioned, and the child’s weight was measured.

A number of characteristics that calculated infant’s weight gain from birth to three months were incorporated in the analysis.  These factors were – birth weight, gender, race, ethnicity, maternal age, education, country of origin, body mass index (BMI) before  pregnancy, and weight gain through pregnancy.  However, the researchers cautioned that “feeding an infant is a primitive behavior, and to suggest to a new mother that she is feeding her infant too often, too much or worse yet, is not very worthy at reading her infant’s signals, would necessitate an extremely skilled nurse or social worker.