How does the evolutionary perspective explain obesity?
If the food supply fails for some reason, then stored fat can be used to sustain energy expenditure. Perhaps, the earliest idea about fat storage (and hence an evolutionary model of obesity) is that it evolved as a buffer against failures in the environmental food supply..
What is the evolutionary purpose of fat?
Homo sapiens, as well as other primates, developed the evolutionary advantage of storing excess energy as body fat, primarily in the readily accessible visceral fat compartment when food is plentiful for use during scarcity..
What is the evolutionary reason for obesity?
If the food supply fails for some reason, then stored fat can be used to sustain energy expenditure. Perhaps, the earliest idea about fat storage (and hence an evolutionary model of obesity) is that it evolved as a buffer against failures in the environmental food supply..
What is the evolutionary reason for weight gain?
The ability to store extra calories as fat during times of plenty could help someone stay healthy and fertile when food was scarce. Over thousands of generations, selective pressure from food scarcity could cause many different kinds of adaptations to evolve..
What is the evolutionary theory of obesity?
If the food supply fails for some reason, then stored fat can be used to sustain energy expenditure. Perhaps, the earliest idea about fat storage (and hence an evolutionary model of obesity) is that it evolved as a buffer against failures in the environmental food supply..
Why do evolutionary humans store more fats?
The results of this new study revealed that one of the reasons humans carry more fat is because the DNA regions that should help convert white fat into brown fat are compressed and do not allow this transformation to take place..
Adipose (fat) cells are specialized for the storage of energy in the form of triglycerides, but research in the last few decades has shown that fat cells also play a critical role in sensing and responding to changes in systemic energy balance.
The ability to store extra calories as fat during times of plenty could help someone stay healthy and fertile when food was scarce. Over thousands of generations, selective pressure from food scarcity could cause many different kinds of adaptations to evolve.
The results of this new study revealed that one of the reasons humans carry more fat is because the DNA regions that should help convert white fat into brown fat are compressed and do not allow this transformation to take place.
Contents1 - Introduction. pp 1-152 - Human fatness in broad context3 - Proximate causes of lipid deposition and oxidation4 - The ontogenetic development
The ancestors of modern humans were at the mercy of climatic and seasonal events and the ability to store fat was critical for surviving long periods without eating. The efficient storage of energy as fat was a selective advantage (“thrifty genotype” hypothesis).
Evolutionary biology fatness
Species of lizard
The African fat-tailed gecko or fat-tail gecko is a ground-dwelling species of gecko from West Africa and Cameroon.
Android fat distribution describes the distribution of human
Distribution of human adipose tissue mainly around the trunk and upper body
Android fat distribution describes the distribution of human adipose tissue mainly around the trunk and upper body, in areas such as the abdomen, chest, shoulder and nape of the neck. This pattern may lead to an apple”-shaped body or central obesity, and is more common in males than in females. Thus, the android fat distribution of men is about 48.6%, which is 10.3% higher than that of premenopausal women. In other cases, an ovoid shape forms, which does not differentiate between men and women. Generally, during early adulthood, females tend to have a more peripheral fat distribution such that their fat is evenly distributed over their body. However, it has been found that as females age, bear children and approach menopause, this distribution shifts towards the android pattern of fat distribution, resulting in a 42.1% increase in android body fat distribution in postmenopausal women. This could potentially provide evolutionary advantages such as lowering a woman's center of gravity making her more stable when carrying offspring.
An evolutionary tradeoff is a situation in which evolution cannot advance one part of a biological system without distressing another part of it. In biology, and more specifically in evolutionary biology, tradeoffs refer to the process through which a trait increases in fitness at the expense of decreased fitness in another trait. A much agreed on theory on what causes evolutionary tradeoffs is that due to resources limitations the simultaneous optimization of two traits cannot be achieved. Another commonly accepted cause of evolutionary tradeoffs is that the characteristics of increasing the fitness in one trait negatively affects the fitness of another trait. This negative relationship is found in traits that are antagonistically pleiotropic or when linkage disequilibrium is present.
The fat-tailed dwarf lemur
Species of lemur
The fat-tailed dwarf lemur, also known as the lesser dwarf lemur, western fat-tailed dwarf lemur, or spiny forest dwarf lemur, is endemic to Madagascar.
Gynoid fat is the body fat that forms around the hips
Distribution of the body fat that forms around the hips, breasts and thighs
Gynoid fat is the body fat that forms around the hips, breasts and thighs. Gynoid fat in females is used to provide nourishment for offspring, and is often referred to as 'reproductive fat'. This is because it contains long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are important in the development of fetuses. It is regarded as a physically attractive feature, serving as an indication towards a woman's reproductive potential.
