More on obesity

Slate today warns against reaching for the easy answers on causes of obesity. This piece was based on a University of Alabama at Birmingham study, so a big shout out to UAB! Contributing factors less obvious that bad food and sedentary lifestyles may include...

1. Inadequate sleep -- this can apparently make you fat.
   
2. Chemical contamination -- the environment is contaminated with endocrine-like substances.
   
3. Heating and air-conditioning -- you don't burn off calories to stay warm, and the heat doesn't kill your appetite.
   
4. Smoking cessation -- well, if you've quit...
   
5. Medications -- Prozac, birth control pills and more promote weight gain.
   

The piece also contains a pithy response to problem solving by common sense: "what's obvious isn't necessarily true." This seems like a nice motto for a scientific college.