External Environment

Genes influence every aspect of our physiology, development, and adaptation. Obesity seems to be no exception. Yet, even after reading this article and researching this topic, I still know relatively little regarding the complex interplay between our genetic makeup and our life experiences. The author of this article and the research contained within does little to clarify the role of nurture in the nature vs. nurture argument. Environmental causation is discussed only in terms of how environmental stress has the potential of becoming a part of one’s genetic makeup and therefore transferrable to future generations. It’s clear that genetic factors make a contribution to obesity risk, but not everyone who may be predisposed to obesity because

The previously mentioned peak and the positions where obesity has greatly amassed revealed a genetic trait that tends towards obesity. In the 1960’s, people developed the “thrifty gene” hypothesis, saying that genes leading to obesity could be inherited. The hypothesis was supported by the knowledge that digestive metabolisms have been naturally selected to favor obese traits.

Genes control almost every aspect of human life, and when it comes to weight there is no exception. Little is known, however, how much of an individual’s genes actually control the weight of certain individuals. Body fat can vary from person to person, yet some people have always carried more weight than others. Often times, when one person is overweight in the family, most of the other individuals in the same family are overweight as well. However, more than just genetics can go into being overweight, and a person’s genes are not the end all be all of obesity. Many times the environment surrounding people who are obese contributes to the overall weight of the individual, and when obesity promoting genes are mixed

Adult obesity rates have rapidly increased since 1960, with at least one-third of the population classified as obese today. It is believed that 60-70% of the risk factors for developing obesity are genetic and are genes that are generally considered to dictate food intake. The environment also significantly affects an individual’s risk for obesity, and poverty level is a huge factor as well. Of the ten states with the highest obesity rates, nine of them among the nation’s poorest states.

Michael Porter provided a framework that models an industry as being influenced by five forces. The strategic business manager seeking to develop an edge over rival firms can use this model to better understand the industry context in which the firm operates. Two of the five forces that are the most significant for Capital One would be rivalry among competitors and threat of new entrants. Capital One has addressed rivalry among competitors in the past by getting new customers to keep their percentage level low for the new and existing customers. Also they have credibility among investor to find individual who are at high risk but will have a good potential with handling their credit card. Capital One threat of new entrants was a major concern in the first two to three years of their business. These concerns are now less intense as it has led to a cost advantage that would be impossible for new entrants to replicate. Capital One can approve these two forces going into the future by keeping up with the latest technology, catering to the community so they can continue to get new customers, and continue to come out with other products that will allow the company to grow in other fields.

Although the mechanism of obesity development is not fully understood, it is confirmed that obesity occurs when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure. There are multiple etiologies for this imbalance, hence, and the rising prevalence of obesity cannot be addressed by a single etiology (Dehghan et al., 2005, p.

There are numerous factors that have impact on individual’s choices in their life. These factors may be influenced by physical setting, organisations within the community or characteristics of people in the community. People can become obese for several reasons and the ecological approach explains some of these reasons.

indicate that inherited genetic variation is an important risk factor for obesity. It was also pointed

Unique microbiota could suggest a human’s current health or if there is any forthcoming chronic disease (Ley, 2006). Families with shared healthy microbes may be able to help relatives who suffer from gastrointestinal disease; but the extant to which the microbiome is shared across generations is not readily known and more research is needed. The core trends for current research revolve around control of obesity, treatment of gastrointestinal diseases such as Crohn’s, and hormonal manipulation in cases of depression. It is imperative to learn to eat for optimal health, to evolve along with the commensals (Turner et al., 2013) as human diets influence diversity of microbes present (Ley et al., 2008). This is a relatively new field with exciting prospects of positive outcomes for some of society’s more chronic

A person’s genetic makeup also plays a part in their weight, or a change in it. Commonly referred to as one’s metabolism, research under the NIH suggests that “[...] human obesity may be influenced by behaviors that are themselves genetically regulated” (para. 1). For example, someone may burn calories quicker than another as a result of genetic makeup, resulting in a lower weight. The inverse may also occur. Despite its influence, genetics do not give an excuse for an unhealthy weight in many cases; according to the Harvard School of Public Health, “Rather than being obesity’s sole cause, genes seem to increase the risk of weight gain and interact with other risk factors in the environment, such as unhealthy diets and inactive lifestyles” (para. 4).

has led to public concerns of the obesity issues. Works also have been done lately to identify the obesity associated loci. Speliotes et al. (2010) identified 18 new loci that are associated with body mass index (BMI). Combined with the earlier loci found, there are now 32 significant loci that are associated with BMI. These 32 BMI loci can explain 1.45% of the variance in BMI, which is comparable to a one pound increase in a 160-180 cm tall individual. There are several studies investigating how these SNPs interact with other variables to affect obesity. For example, for those with more risk alleles associated with obesity are more likely than their counterparts to gain weight if they drink sugar-sweetened beverages (Qi et al. 2012). For those who drink sweetened beverages everyday, 10 risk alleles’ increases would lead to 1.78 times increase in BMI. As for sociologists, at first, researchers tried to use the genome-wide gene-by-environment interaction (GWGEI) method to combine GWAS results into the sociological study (Boardman et al. 2014). They used 260,402 SNPs as genetic markers and interacted these markers with educational attainment (as an environment indicator). Several hypotheses on GxE interactions are tested. However, because the data points were too huge, the results were hard to support any of the hypotheses. Also, there could be false positive and rGE issues lurking around the

One grate use of The Ecological Model is observed in the problematic question of Obesity in modern societies. Despite the growing awareness of obesity and its potential risks to health,

The topic that I have chosen to look at is obesity. The aim of this topic is to find out whether “the ignorance of genetics as a contra factor of obesity”. I have chosen to look at this topic because obesity is concerns me. Obesity has always been a bid debate for a long time now and I was intrigued to find out more about the topic and the cause of obesity. The fact that obesity has made deadlines news in recent years. There are a lot of misconceptions about obesity such as overweight is caused by a sow metabolism. There have been a lot of beliefs and myths about obesity in society today and he above myths is on of them. According to Donnellan (1998) ‘ ‘people who are overweight have told their doctors that they eat no more and

Obese individuals within a family can increase one’s risk of also developing the condition. The risk of obesity is two to eight times greater for an individual with a family history of obesity contrary to families with no history of obesity at all. (Research Chair In Obesity. 2011.) Also, according to Helen N Lyon and Joel N Hirschhorn, obesity is a complex genetic trait as they discovered multiple genes to be involved in causing the disease. (Helen N Lyon and Joel N Hirschhorn. 2005.) Lyon and Hirschhorn found that single nucleotide polymorphisms, prevalent on average at one locus per thousand DNA base pairs out of three billion, could change the biological functions of a gene by changing the location, time and amount by which the protein is made, or by altering the structure of the protein. In effect, due to some functional differences, susceptibility to obesity will increase.

“Obesity is a condition that is associated with having excess of body fat, genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting.” Also, obesity is one of the leading cause of death in mortality, and mobility. According to World Health Organization, “health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” Health has two categories, personal health and community health. “Personal health is the decision that one makes that affects their own health while community health is for a population or a group of people to protect their health rather than an individual.” Based on how personal and community health are defined, obesity is developed because of a person food choice. To add on that, if there are no many resources in the community to get healthy foods, it might lead a person to eat unhealthy foods that are convenient to them. However, in the lecture we learned five determinants of health which are physical environment, built environment, social environment, access to health services, and individual behavior, biology, and genetics. First, individual behavior, biology and genetics has an impact on a person to have obesity. “Genetic factor contributes small to obesity risk and those who have obesity genes do not become over weight.” Second, built environment plays a big role in an individual everyday life. For example, “a person might not choose to bike or walk to the store because there