Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T10:03:33.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Food security and obesity: Can passerine foraging behavior inform explanations for human weight gain?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2019

Ursula Pool*
Affiliation:
Healthy & Sustainable Settings Unit, Faculty of Health & Wellbeing, University of Central Lancashire, Westlakes Campus, Cumbria CA24 3JZ, UK. upool1@uclan.ac.uk

Abstract

Commonly used measures of human food insecurity differ categorically from measures determining food security in other species. In addition, human foraging behaviors may have arisen in a divergent evolutionary context from nonhuman foraging. Hence, a theoretical framework based on food insecurity and fat storage in nonhumans may not be appropriate for explaining associations between human food insecurity and obesity.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexandratos, N. & Bruisma, J. (2012) World agriculture towards 2030/2050: The 2012 revision. ESA Working paper No. 12-03. Food and Agriculture Organization.Google Scholar
Broussard, N. H. & Tandon, S. (2016) Food insecurity measures: Experience-based versus nutrition-based evidence from India, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, Economic Research Report 220. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.Google Scholar
Brunstrom, J. M. & Cheon, B. K. (2018) Do humans still forage in an obesogenic environment? Mechanisms and implications for weight maintenance. Physiology & Behavior 193(Part B):261–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.02.038.Google Scholar
Brunstrom, J. M., Drake, A. C. L., Forde, C. G. & Rogers, P. J. (2018) Undervalued and ignored: Are humans poorly adapted to energy-dense foods? Appetite 120:589–95. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.10.015.Google Scholar
Gibson, E. L. & Wardle, J. (2003) Energy density predicts preferences for fruit and vegetables in 4-year-old children. Appetite 41:9798Google Scholar
Hill, K. R., Walker, R. S., Bozicevic, M., Eder, J., Headland, T., Hewlett, B., Hurtado, M. A., Marlowe, F., Wiessner, P. & Wood, B. (2011) Co-residence patterns in hunter-gatherer societies show unique human social structure. Science 11:1286–89.Google Scholar
Hoefling, A. & Strack, F. (2008) The tempting effect of forbidden foods. High calorie content evokes conflicting implicit and explicit evaluations in restrained eaters. Appetite 51:681–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2008.06.004.Google Scholar
Leonard, W. R. & Robertson, M. L. (1994) Evolutionary perspectives on human nutrition: The influence of brain and body size on diet and metabolism. American Journal of Human Biology Biol 6:7788. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.1310060111.Google Scholar
Nettle, D., Andrews, C. & Bateson, M. (2017) Food insecurity as a driver of obesity in humans: The insurance hypothesis. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 40:E105. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X16000947.Google Scholar
Nord, M., Andrews, M. & Carlson, S. (2009) Household food security in the United States, 2008 (Economic Research Report 83). U.S. Department of Agriculture. Available at: https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/err83/10987_err83_1_.pdf.Google Scholar
Popkin, B. M. & Gordon-Larsen, P. (2004) The nutrition transition: Worldwide obesity dynamics and their determinants. International Journal of Obesity 28:S2S9. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0802804.Google Scholar
Rydell, R. J. & McConnell, A. R. (2006) Understanding implicit and explicit attitude change: A systems reasoning analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91:9951008. http://doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.6.995.Google Scholar
Schuppli, C., Graber, S. M., Isler, K. & van Schaik, C. P. (2016) Life history, cognition and the evolution of complex foraging niches. Journal of Human Evolution 92:91100.Google Scholar
UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), IFAD, UNICEF, WFP & WHO (2017) The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2017. Building resilience for peace and food security. FAO.Google Scholar