On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:46:31 +0100, Invisible wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
> 
>> Not a hypothesis.  Proven - as societies, Western societies are very
>> sedentary, and as such, obesity hits those who aren't careful about it.
> 
> There's no doubt that Westerners are very sedentary.
> 
> Most people seem to think that youngsters are inherantly full of energy,
> and that being tired and lathargic is in inevitable consequence of
> growing up. My hypothesis is that this lack of energy is not in fact due
> to age, but to being constantly forced to stand still, sit still, wait
> around, etc.

Ah, I see - I missed that that was your hypothesis.

I think it's not so much being forced to stand still (I wasn't, but I was 
taught how to behave in public settings, which it seems at least here 
where I live isn't something that is taught enough), but partly a mass-
>engergy conversion.  Kids are small, so doesn't take as much fuel to 
power them as it does someone my shape and size.

A 1500 calorie diet (as an example of pulling a number out of thin air) 
for me is enough for me to probably sit in front of a computer for 8 
hours and that's about it.  If I want to be working out, I need more like 
2500 calories of intake per day.

But for an average 10-year-old kid, 1500 calories is quite a bit and that 
energy has to go somewhere.

Jim

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