Plain facts about fat

TWO weeks ago in his Saturday column, John Andersen stated when discussing my thoughts on obesity that “basically, Dr Fairley’s message is that if you are fat, you are lazy and you eat too much crap”.

This is not entirely right and I would like to clarify the matter. Obesity rates have been increasing in Australia for the past 30 years. A staggering 65 per cent of Australians are overweight or obese.

These figures are up to 10 per cent worse than the national average in North Queensland with about 75 per cent of those in Townsville falling into this category and things are only getting worse.

A century ago it was rare to see an obese person.

Now the reverse is true. Our genes have not changed in this time, leaving only our environment as the major contributing cause for this epidemic.

Obesity is a very complex issue – it is not simply related to poor self- control ( as was suggested on my behalf in a prior article).

Sure, it is related to eating more than your body needs for the level of exercise you are doing, there can be no denying this, it is not magic or rocket science. The issue is why do we eat too many calories?

The simplest way of looking at this is to compare eating to breathing, both are necessary for survival.

The control of eating and breathing comes from the very deep and very ancient parts of the brain.

These have been necessary for survival of animals for hundreds of millions of years.

If you didn’t eat as much as you could when food was available, then you died in the next famine.

The part sponsible of the for brain reconscious thought – your cerebral cortex – is a relatively recent addition to your brain.

It cannot override the deep, ancient parts of the brain.

If you don’t believe me try the conscious thought of holding your breath.

Eating is the same, the conscious decision to try not to eat is made in your cerebral cortex and is overridden by the deep brain, just as breathing is, you cannot do it for long.

Just try dieting. It is a bit like holding your breath.

It is a simply a hopeless waste of time. The weight will not stay off for long. You will not hold your breath for long.

The solution lies in removing easy access to cheap, high calorie foods with very poor nutritional value.

Exercise is only a small part of the equation.

Unfortunately, in our society ruled by money and not wisdom, with multinational food companies making billions of dollars in slowly poisoning you, and with impotent government not stepping in on your behalf, the case is lost. Bon appetit. STEPHEN FAIRLEY, Gastroenterologist,

Townsville.