Carolyn Plewes

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• Buss, M. D. (2008). Attractive Women Want It All: Good Genes, Economic Investment, Parenting Proclivities, and Emotional Commitment. Evolutionary Psychology, 6 (1), 134-146.
• Pompper, D. (2010). Masculinities, the Metrosexual, and Media Images: Across Dimentions of Age and Ethnicity. Sex Roles, 63, 682-696.

More to Explore

• To learn about obesity as well as its effects and prevention in Canada and the US visit http://www.obesitycanada.com/ and http://www.obesityinamerica.org/.
• For obesity prevalence statistics by county visit http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity.
• Graham, R. (2010). Physical activity promotion: a natural selection. J of Epidemiol Community Health, 64, 752.
  • Dr. R. Graham proposes that since many activities during human evolution were group-oriented, such as hunting, the key to encouraging exercise is increasing group activities. He suggests that this could be applied in health interventions.
• Pinel, J. P. J., Assanand, S., & Lehman, D. R. (2000). Hunger, eating, and ill health. American Psychologist, 55(10), 1105-1116.
  • Pinel and colleagues (2000) review evolutionary theories of hunger regulation and the benefits of a limited diet. This article reviews the effects of diet regulation in both human and non-human animal subjects. Set-point theory states that satiety and hunger are the results of certain energy levels being surpassed or not reached, respectively. The authors feel that positive incentive presents a more comprehensive theory as the anticipation of eating pleasure drives people to eat. Set-point theories do not account for eating behaviors in preparation for scarcity, while positive incentive theory explains an adaptive advantage for increased food intake in anticipation of famine.
• Rolls, B. J., Roe, L. S., & Meengs J. S. (2007). The effect of large portion sizes on energy intake is sustained for 11 days. Obesity, 15(6), 1535-1543.
  • When food is consistently available in large portions, humans tend to increase their food intake. This study looked at eating behavior with increased portions for 11 days. Energy intake was significantly greater and the increase was sustained for the group that experienced 11 days of increased portions. Presently, food is freely available in large portions and this research supports a link between our current environment and the prevalence of obesity.