'Baby Fat' could make for leaner adults By David Brown

Los Angeles Times writer, David Brown, explained in his article "'Baby fat' could make for leaner adults"-April 9, 2009- the studies being done on brown fat-"unexpectedly large and active deposits of a calorie-burning type of fat that bioloists thought disappeared after infancy." The existence and persistance of brown fat may be a potential strategy in fighting obesity. Through the three studies, it is shown that brown fat may play a role in diseases such as Type 2 diabetes where the energy balance is thrown off. The tests also show that: "leaner people have more detectable brown fat than overweight people, brown fat appears to be more active in women than in men, and the safest way to detect brown fat is to stay chilly." Brown establishes credibility by using facts from the expert researchers performing the studies and quoting their opinionated statments. Dr. Sven Enerback, a researcher at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, says that a drug that stimulates brown fat "is definitely something we should pursue" bacause one day people will be able to stimulate their bodies to get rid of stored energy as heat. The studies were performed in cold environments where brown fat is best detectable, and the latest findings show that "obesity is a consequence of evolution." This is because Homo Sapiens evolved in a world where there was hardly enough food, continuous physical activity and dangerous cold- characteristics of this brown fat keeping the body lean. But now we live in abundance, leisure and warmth. So the question posed from this research is "which would you rather be, thin or warm?"



Application: According to the article, brown fat could potentially be stimulated to burn off ordinary fat as heat and ultimately help fight obesity. But how do you feel about the question "which would you rather be, thin or warm" posed due to this research? How would you answer that?

Application: If in the future there is a drug to stimulate brown fat, how do you think people's physical activity will be affected? Do you think people will solely depend on the stimulation of brown fat to keep them from becoming overweight?