Due To Stress Summary

In The Rise in Obesity is Due to Stress, Denise Cummins claims the rise of obesity in the United States is because of stress levels. Cummins explains that the United States rates at number 11 as one of the countries most stressed and unhappy. She explains that although we eat on average, just 100 more calories than other countries, we are fatter because of stress. Cummins mentions daily stress and chronic stress. The author says daily stress has become a normal part of life. This stress, she mentions causes weight gain, but not as much as chronic stress. Chronic stress is worse because it releases cortisol, a stress hormone. This hormone concentrates the fat towards the abdomen even in people who are not obese. She also mentions that apart from concentrating fat in the abdomen, cortisol increases an appetite
Cummins also explains that dieting does not even help, in fact it stresses people out more causing them to gain weight.
In order to stress her claim, Cummins gives specific examples of experiments that have taken place regarding stress increasing obesity. An experiment that took place included rats given normal rat chow and sugar water. The stressed rats chose the sugar water over the healthier choice. The stressed rats ended up gaining more weight, especially near their abdomen unlike the non-stressed rats. In another study Cummins includes, Dr. Carol Shively feeds female monkey the American diet and compares those monkeys with higher ranked monkeys. The higher ranked monkeys were not as fat as the lower ranked monkeys. Cummins explains this was due to the stress carried with being a low rank.
Given the support Cummins gave for her argument that stress causes obesity, I agree with the author, but I do not agree that stress is the cause of the rise in obesity rates. The rise in obesity