E-Book Overview
This comprehensive synthesis of current medical and evolutionary literature addresses key questions about the role body fat plays in human biology. It explores how body energy stores are regulated, how they develop over the life-course, what biological functions they serve, and how they may have evolved. There is now substantial evidence that human adiposity is not merely a buffer against the threat of starvation, but is also a resource for meeting the energy costs of growth, reproduction and immune function. As such it may be considered as important in our species evolution as other traits such as bipedalism, large brains, and long life spans and developmental periods. Indeed, adiposity is integrally linked with these other traits, and with our capacity to colonise and inhabit diverse ecosystems. It is because human metabolism is so sensitive to environmental cues that manipulative economic forces are now generating the current obesity epidemic.
E-Book Content
This page intentionally left blank
Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology 58
The Evolutionary Biology of Human Body Fatness: Thrift and Control
This comprehensive synthesis of current medical and evolutionary literature addresses key questions about the role body fat plays in human biology. It explores how body energy stores are regulated, how they develop over the life-course, what biological functions they serve, and how they may have evolved. There is now substantial evidence that human adiposity is not merely a buffer against the threat of starvation but also a resource for meeting the energy costs of growth, reproduction and immune function. Furthermore, the hormonal secretions of adipose tissue play a key regulatory role in allocating energy between these competing functions. As such, it may be considered as important in our species’ evolution as other traits such as bipedalism, large brains, and long life spans and developmental periods. Indeed, adiposity is integrally linked with these other traits and with our capacity to colonise and inhabit diverse ecosystems. It is because human metabolism is so sensitive to environmental cues that manipulative economic forces are now generating the current obesity epidemic. jonat han c . k. wells is a Reader in Paediatric Nutrition at the University College London (UCL) Institute of Child Health. He conducts research on paediatric energetics and body composition, using anthropological and evolutionary approaches to inform biological understanding.
Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology Series editors human ecology C. G. Nicholas Mascie-Taylor, University of Cambridge Michael A. Little, State University of New York, Binghamton genetics Kenneth M. Weiss, Pennsylvania State University human evolution Robert A. Foley, University of Cambridge Nina G. Jablonski, California Academy of Science primatology Karen B. Strier, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Also available in the series 41 Macaque Societies – A Model for the Study of Social Organization Bernard Thierry, Mewa Singh & Werner Kaumanns (eds.) 0 521 81847 8 42 Simulating Human Origins and Evolution Ken Wessen 0 521 84399 5 43 Bioarchaeology of Southeast Asia Marc Oxenham & Nancy Tayles (eds.) 0 521 82580 6 44 Seasonality in Primates Diane K. Brockman & Carel P. van Schaik 0 521 82069 3 45 Human Biology of Afro-Caribbean Populations Lorena Madrigal 0 521 81931 8 46 Primate and Human Evolution Susan Cachel 0 521 82942 9 47 The First Boat People Steve Webb 0 521 85656 6 48 Feeding Ecology in Apes and Other Primates Gottfried Hohmann, Martha Robbins & Christophe Boesch (eds.) 0 521 85837 2 49 Measuring Stress in Humans: A Practical Guide for the Field Gillian Ice & Gary James (eds.) 0 521 84479 7 50 The Bioarchaeology of Children: Perspectives from Biological and Forensic Anthropology Mary Le