What’s the stigma? I don’t think anyone here’s suggesting there can’t be a genetic factor. I’m also pretty sure people of color would welcome more studies that take their health more seriously.

On the other hand there’s plenty of other obvious causes that are not genetic so there’s no reason to discount them except for another kind of stigma.

It doesn't seem like you understand how health science research in the US works in 2023. Funding is controlled by NIH boards, and "woke" political correctness is very paramount. It is a landmine field to get any funding for any research that would challenge the prevailing woke orthodoxy that historical and current racism is the cause of ALL negative racial disparities. And even if you could get such research funded, good luck getting it published in anything left of Quillette. And long before you even get to this point, prospective researchers go through social filtering processes to ensure most people that would even ask such questions never become researchers in the first place.

The NIH actually strictly controls the use of genetic databases to exactly ensure that cross ethnic genetic studies are not performed. As you suggest, this ultimately will hold back science and human health, especially for lower SES minorities, but you can say that about a lot of components of woke orthodoxy. Unfortunately, if you want to do serious science on anything that has potential political ramifications, you need to go outside the Western world to do it.

Spend a week or two watching the food intake of an average American vs African household, and then come back here and tell us again about your theories on natural selection and the slave trade.

Tough to make good choices when processed foods are addictive and taste 100x better than the obv healthy choices...

Loaded with added sugar and salt, high fructose corn syrup, other things you can't pronounce or spell correctly...Some of these ingredients are banned elsewhere and for good reason

Some of this stuff affects the brain in a similar way that drugs do

No idea what % of population is affected and/or addicted to food, but I can tell you anecdotally there is a stark contrast between the cheap processed **** I can get at a typical supermarket and the stuff I get at Whole Foods (while still hawking the nutrition label)

The sodium content is obvious bc I feel the need to guzzle water from obv dehydration

I play poker and I can tell the foods I eat clearly affect brain function

More anecdotes, for me it feels like push/pull. If I stick to the healthy stuff, I feel less like I need to eat the shitty processed stuff. But if I go buy a bag of chips/Cheez-It/eat a pizza local, man, I can just eat that stuff up all day. Tastes so much better, makes me crave more, and it's double the calories and half the protein

There’s also way more of it available. Food really needs a lot more regulation. No way should it be on the consumer alone when the consequences to society or so immense.

Are you suggesting that the government should control what we eat? That's quite a statement.

I did not say theory, I said hypothesis, and even that was an overstatement. So, according to you some questions can't even be asked?

Didn't some city ban the sale of large sodas?

The government already controls what you eat for the sake of health. I’m just suggesting the use of ingredients in food manufacturing should be more regulated than it currently is.

yes of course, much more than they already do

Control of food additives, at any rate, is an obvious responsibility of government in an industrialised society.

I made an Indian chicken recipe that called for mustard oil. I bought some at the local asian grocery store and noticed when I got home that it says "for external use only". Apparently, it's not allowed for consumption in the US but is common in India. Found it so bizarre because it was next to peanut, olive, etc. oils at the store. Wifey was pretty concerned

All true. I would add that in the US we then spend more than other countries on healthcare trying to deal with the issues that result from all that cheap garbage "food".

I agree but would frame it a little differently. Consumers should be able to decide what they eat. But companies should be stopped from marketing addictive crap as if it were actual food, similar to the restrictions we have on cigarettes.

The government shouldn't control what you eat, but they shouldn't allow someone to market heroin to you as a safe way to wind down after a busy day at work.

Is it? Food safety laws seem relatively uncontroversial.

Don't you see a difference between food safety and "you can't eat this, you are too fat"? I mean, seems like a big jump to me.

I do, that’s why “so the government should control what we eat” is an unhelpful oversimplification.

Well, if the goal is to have the population, especially lower SES persons lose weight, socialism seems to be a good fix. See Venezeula as the most recent example of many.

Our genetics haven't changed much in the past 50 years but our obesity rates have skyrocketed.

There is no reason OP's question needs to be a racist thing in the same way that acknowledging white people are more likely to get skin cancer is does not need to be a racist thing.

It frankly is a medical question worth asking because it could lead to better treatment and potentially less stigma around medical intervention for obesity.

A genetic cause is worth examining if Black people are still obese at higher rates than other groups after you control for all the differences in diet and exercise. OP can make that case. Right now it’s black Americans are fatter than black Africans, it must be good survival genes. I don’t think that’s necessarily racist but it’s an odd leap when the most likely answer is a difference in calorie intake and physical activity.

No one above your post has said it was racist or was dismissive of op because it seems racist. It’s just a bad theory irregardless of whether or not it is racist.

A better question to start with is “why are the obesity rates in black, white, and hispanic adults so similar, whilst obesity rates in asians are much lower?”

An even more pertinent or relevant question is “why are obesity rates continuing to rise, and is there a ceiling? or Will American culture change over time and people become healthier?”

I was mostly talking about the point from early in the thread that studies into race/genetics being a factor in obesity as racist pseudo science.

I agree socio-economic factors are likely bigger contributors to obesity rates in the US and are more worthy of attention.

I have a minor problem with race and genetics being lumped together. But , that would be a bad derail. Yeah, I think socio economic behaviors is a far better and far more obvious answer.
but, whatever