Eating more and doing less

The title of a new paper from two English professors is considerably less politically correct; Gluttony and Sloth explores the increasing obesity epidemic in the UK.  While they take on the usual suspects, including high calorie snack foods, sugary drinks and increasing consumption of restaurant and take out foods, they also posit the population is actually consuming less calories than previous generations.  This data from government surveys would seem counter intuitive, but the authors go on to survey the job descriptions of the majority of workers and come to the conclusion that as deindustrialization continues, more and more people are engaging in increasingly sedentary occupations.  So, even fewer calories are expended than consumed, hastening the weight gains documented by various studies.  Even as their parents slide into a life of sloth and gluttony, their children have already gotten there via video games and less participation in sports and demanding life activities.   While we make fun of elders who tell us they walked miles to and from school each day and performed physically demanding chores after school as part of a daily routine, it is undeniable they were and many are still in better shape than their descendants.  I don't know what the solution to this problem may be, but an active lifestyle certainly can't hurt.