Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes

by Nathan H. Lents

For one thing, people who do make their living through physical toil are not in any way immune from obesity. The opposite is true, in fact, as both obesity and physical labor correlate with lower income. Second, children who spend more time engaging in physical play than indoor play are no less likely to develop obesity as adults. Again, the opposite tends to be true: people who are active athletes throughout their childhood, adolescence, and even into adulthood are more likely to be obese in their thirties, forties, and fifties, particularly when their physical activity wanes. It isn’t lifestyle, it’s the overconsumption of calorie-rich foods that seems to be the main cause of obesity.

Human psychology is no match for human physiology.