Study: Thinking Too Much Leads To Overeating and Obesity

Written by News Writer

Saturday, 06 September 2008

SATURDAY, September 6, (News Locale) - These days it is not uncommon to see those employed in the IT industry have become overweight. Contrary to the prevailing belief, this may not be because they do not exercise, but because they think too much! This is what a new study by researchers at the Universite Laval in Quebec City, Canada has found. The study involved 14 students who were tasked with either relaxing while sitting, reading and summarizing a text or finishing a series of memory, attention, and vigilance tests on their designated PCs. The researchers then allowed 45 minutes break after which the students were asked to eat whatever they liked from a buffet spread. The exact items that were consumed by the students were noted by the researchers. The researchers report that students who were asked to summarize a text ate 203 extra calories, while the computer-based memory test group consumed 253 extra calories as compared to the relaxing group. This is surprising although the body used just three calories extra for intellectual work. Study leader Jean-Philippe Chaput explained this by saying intellectual work required more glucose. Furthermore blood samples taken from the students also showed fluctuating glucose andinsulin levels during intellectual levels as compared to rest periods. "Caloric overcompensation following intellectual work, combined with the fact that we are less physically active when doing intellectual tasks, could contribute to the obesity epidemic currently observed in industrialized countries," Dr Chaput revealed. Obesity is a dangerous condition which is linked to the so-called lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, heartdisease, poor self-esteem, and a lower health-related quality of life. The World Health Organization has declared obesity as a global epidemic having major health implications in 1997. It is estimated that some 2 billion people worldwide are obese or overweight. But as the above study shows, some percent of obese individuals may simply be overworked ones.