Why do we get fat?
30 January 2025 - 30 January 2025
Region(s): auckland
Type(s):
In this free talk, Professor John Speakman, Professor at both the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, China and the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, will discuss the international obesity crisis. He will review some hard information and reach surprising conclusions with implications for individual behaviour and public health policies.
The causes of the epidemic are often presumed to be traceable to two main culprits. There has been an increase in sedentary behaviour because of changing work patterns, which leads to a reduction in our energy expenditure. This has been combined with a large expansion in the availability of fast junk foods that are designed to make us overconsume energy. Professor Speakman has used isotopes to test these ideas with some surprising conclusions.
Location: Physics Lecture Theatre 1. PLT1/303-G20, Science Centre, 38 Princes Street, Auckland
Find out more and to register: https://unievents.auckland.ac.nz/event-details/eventbrite/1143148992409.
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Activity idea
Use the Futures thinking tool to investigate obesity and the impact it has on the health system in the activity Futures thinking about obesity.
In Obesity risk factors students participate in a simulation that demonstrates that both genetic make-up and environmental factors influence an individual’s likelihood of becoming obese.