What role do our genes play in influencing our body weight and what we like to eat? Why do some people gain weight more easily than others, and is it all down to genes or are there other factors at play? In this episode, we talked with a clinician and scientist Sadaf Farooqi, health psychologist Theresa Marteau, and geographer Thomas Burgoine about the multitude of factors that go into influencing our eating behaviours. Along the way, we hear about the crucial importance of the environment in influencing our eating behaviour, including “zoning” - the effort to keep fast food outlets no more than 400 yards from schools, and learn how our food has become more calorific over the past 20 to 30 years. Our guests discuss how ultimately, communicating information about obesity doesn’t necessarily change our behaviour towards food, as we are much more influenced by our genes and environment than what's inside our heads.
This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan, Naomi Clements-Brod and Annie Thwaite.
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Timestamps:
[00:00] - Introductions
[01:00] - A bit about the guests’ research
[02:10] - Defining obesity and what it means to be obese
[02:45] - Along with diabetes, how does obesity impact our health?
[03:45] - What proportion of the global population are obese?
[04:25] - How these
[05:25] - The many factors that contribute to obesity (genes and how our genes respond to the environment)
[06:40] - Patterns of obesity. The pandemic, neighbourhoods, inequality, and how income levels affect childhood obesity?
[10:40] - How low income and poverty drains our mental capacity for cognitive tasks
[12:05] - How small amounts of income are given to the poorest households decreases stress and improves diets.
[12:55] - The calorie paradox and energy-poor foods. The role of processed foods.
[14:25] - What would a ’healthy’ country/neighbourhood look like
[15:25] - Time for a recap
[19:15] - What can we do at a policy level? Could hospitals be the perfect ‘role models’?
[20:30] - Should policymakers be setting the food environment? Looking at examples like the experiments in Singapore.
[21:40] - Translating research to improve the food environment. Changing worksite cafeterias. Reducing the amount of higher calorie meals available. Cutting portions sizes of higher calorie meals.
[24:00] - How the size of wine glasses affects how much people are drinking. What this means in terms of calorie consumption.
[25:30] - The amount of evidence that is needed for public health interventions (public vs commercial sector)
[26:40] - What about education, the school environment, zoning, access to fast food, and education around obesity
[29:40] - How do we respond to risks - does information change our behaviour? Does the ‘5 A Day’ work?
[31:40] - From a psychology perspective, does education work to change our behaviour? [32:20] - What about from a biological and genetic perspective? The role of the environment.
[34:00] - Is eating behaviour voluntary? How much...
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