European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 31, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Research of fat questions can Lead to lean answers Jack Sprat could cat no fat his wife could Eaton lean that Means or. Sprat is lean and  is fat right probably but not necessarily. The question of Why people become obese can t always be answered by simply inventorying their refrigerators say obesity researchers. Or. Claude Bouchard professor of exercise physiology at Laval University in Quebec Canada says the Best minds we have in the Fields of nutrition metabolism and genetics have yet to figure out the Why of obesity. Basically obesity is a problem of regulation Between the fat intake and the fat  the body of an average 60-year-old Man who weighs 154 pounds contains about one Pound of carbohydrates 22 pounds of fat and 22 pounds of pro Tein. In his lifetime he has consumed about 15,400 pounds of carbohydrates 6,160 pounds of fat and 5,280 pounds of proteins. Stores of carbohydrates and proteins in the body vary slightly but Levels of stored fat can increase ten fold and do in obese people. There lies the problem. If we knew How to address that says Bouchard we would probably take care of most cases of obesity. The problem is that we eat More than we use and then it becomes  but not All people Are created equal when it comes to storing fat. Bouchard tells of an overfeed ing study he conducted on 12 pairs of identical twin men. After determining the Baseline calorie level for each of the lean 21-year-Olds, the twins were forced to remain sedentary and eat 84,000 excess calories Over four months. Even though they ate identical excess calories weight gains of the subjects varied widely. Gains of twin Brothers even varied showing a correlation of is Davo Cosoy a big reason for fatness food sits along with signs noting ingredients at the obesity gathering. Just 50 percent rather than the Normal 90 percent physical correlation of exact twins. So based on Bouchard s study it appears that even if or. And mrs. Sprat shared the same diet they would t be equally fat. The differences in weight gain Between the twins in the study also indicates that the size of the sprays respective parents does t necessarily dictate their size. Children of obese parents have an in creased risk of obesity but they won t or. Claude Bouchard necessarily grow up to be fat Bouchard says. He cites a recent Survey of 729 female members of the National association to Advance fat acceptance. The women polled had an average height weight ratio called body mass Index of 47. Their relatives had an average Index of 30 or 31, which puts them on the Border Between overweight and obese but still far Slimmer than the Survey subjects. The body mass indexes of the women s spouses were also included in the Survey tally. Like the rela Tives the spouses tended to be heavy which pointed to factors of lifestyle environment and culture since the couples arc not genetically related. As for the sprays it s hard to know How their Bod ies handled their penchant for meat and fat which kept the family platters clean. A 1916 version of the real Mother Goose shows a slim couple while two later versions of the classic depict a lean Jack along Side his plump wife. Rosemary Sawyer when growing up turns into fattening up Jacqueline Buls says she was shocked whether doctor urged her to Cut off her 8-year-Olddaughter s Supply of sweets and soft  daughter overweight that was impossible the belgian woman recalls thinking. By the time Barbara turned 11, the doctor s urging turned Adamant. The 5-Fect-tall youngster weighed 130 pounds. Buls began Tak ing her daughter to weight watch ers where she managed to shed pounds. But even with the support of the slimming organization Buls admits it has t been easy. Sometimes she s really Des Perate Buls says of her daughter. You support her Ever but Jacqueline Buls what can you say when your child likes almost every thing sweets As Well As vegetables or. Elizabeth Poskitt a British specialist in child. Hood obesity recognizes that such weight loss regi men is never easy but she contends it s important for parents to try to help their children avoid becom ing obese adults. Unlike Barbara Buls whose parents have Normal weight 80 percent of obese children have one or More obese parents. The lot of these children can be difficult Poskitt says. Often their overweight parents Don t Sec their problem or if they do they expect them to slim Down without doing so themselves. Even doctors sometimes advise parents against dealing with heavy children saying they will grow out of it. Poskitt s 20 years running a children s obesity clinic has taught her that most fat infants will slim Clown to Normal weight once they re Young children. Some will not. The key is knowing when excess weight stops being  assessing the problem based on a child s height and weight is not enough. I health care professionals must also consider their age. If children Are getting progressively fatter particularly. At stages when children Are slimming we should probably try and do something about it Poskitt says. Many children become obese during adolescence when teen age diets and lifestyles wreak havoc on weight reduction efforts. Boys May be less of a prob Lem because most will undergo a growth spurt during that period. Girls tend to become More obese and find it difficult to slim Down Poskitt says. Poskitt says parents of obese children need t worry that an emphasis on diet and exercise will cause anorexia Nerosa. The children most at risk of j or. Elizabeth Poskitt this eating disorder arc almost certainly the Normal weight friends of the  former fat Chil Dren Sally Smith and Carol Wexler say they were Hurt More than helped by people who expected them to slim Down. No child who feels fat docs not suffer says Wixler an american living in Israel. And receiving the message you Are not of if you were Slimmer you d be of Only makes it worse she says. Smith says fat children desperately need a differ ent message. They need to hear that they Are loved unconditionally and that they Are valuable human beings and they Are Beautiful human beings and that your approval of them or the teacher s approval of them or their friends approval of them in t dependent on their body size says Smith who Heads a . Organization to promote the acceptance of fat people. Poskitt notes that today s children Don t eat As Many Home cooked meals As they did years ago when their mothers had time to Cook. Instead they cat microwave dinners in front of the television.  Sci Clr 31, Page /