Science Cafe Orlando

Evolutionary medicine provides insights into why we are experiencing a global pandemic of obesity, and what we might do about it.

The presenter, Leslie Sue Lieberman, Ph.D., is a Professor of Anthropology and the founding Director of the Women’s Research Center at the University of Central Florida. She is a biomedical anthropologist with research specializations in type-2 diabetes, nutrition, and obesity. She has co-authored or edited 11 books, and published over 70 journal articles and book chapters. Her research has been supported by NIH, NSF, HRSA, NIMH, and others.

(Publicity flier)

(Discussion forum)

Notes from event

Attendance: 38

References in talk:

M&Ms, nutritional value and color histories

Barker JL, Olsen LW, Sorensen, TIA. 2007 Childhood body-mass index and risk of coronary heart disease in adulthood. New Eng J Med 357:2329-37.

Bray G, Neilsen S, Popkin B. 2004 Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity. Am J Clin Nutri 79:537-43

Brownell KD, Horgan KB 2003. Food fight: the inside story of the food industry, America’s obesity crisis and what we can do about it. New York: McGraw Hill/Contemporary Books.

Leonard WR, Robertson ML. 1992. Nutritional requirements and human evolution: a bioenergetics model. Am J Hum Bio 4:179-95.

Lieberman, LS. 2008 Diabesity and Darwinian Medicine. In: Trevathan, W., Smith, EO., and McKenna, JJ. New Perspectives in Evolutionary Medicine. New York: Oxford University; 516-558.

Rozin P, 2005 The meaning of food in our lives: a cross-cultural perspective on eating and well-being. J Nutr Edu Behav 37: S107-S12.

Wansink B. Environmental factors that increase the food intake and consumption volume of unknowing consumers. Ann Rev Nutr 2004; 24: 455-79.

Young LR, Nestle M 2002 The contribution of expanding portion sizes to the US obesity epidemic. Am J Pub Heal 92: 246-49 .