The Evolutionary Biology of Human Body Fatness: Thrift and Control

396 Pages·2009·2.667 MB·English

by  Jonathan C. K. Wells

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CambridgeStudiesinBiologicalandEvolutionaryAnthropology58
TheEvolutionaryBiologyofHumanBodyFatness:
ThriftandControl
Thiscomprehensivesynthesisofcurrentmedicalandevolutionarylitera-
tureaddresseskeyquestionsabouttherolebodyfatplaysinhumanbiol-
ogy.Itexploreshowbodyenergystoresareregulated,howtheydevelop
overthelife-course,whatbiologicalfunctionstheyserve,andhowthey
mayhaveevolved.Thereisnowsubstantialevidencethathumanadiposity
isnotmerelyabufferagainstthethreatofstarvationbutalsoaresource
formeetingtheenergycostsofgrowth,reproductionandimmunefunc-
tion. Furthermore, the hormonal secretions of adipose tissue play a key
regulatoryroleinallocatingenergybetweenthesecompetingfunctions.
Assuch,itmaybeconsideredasimportantinourspecies’evolutionas
othertraitssuchasbipedalism,largebrains,andlonglifespansanddevel-
opmentalperiods.Indeed,adiposityisintegrallylinkedwiththeseother
traits and with our capacity to colonise and inhabit diverse ecosystems.
It is because human metabolism is so sensitive to environmental cues
thatmanipulativeeconomicforcesarenowgeneratingthecurrentobesity
epidemic.
jonathan c. k. wells is a Reader in Paediatric Nutrition at the
UniversityCollegeLondon(UCL)InstituteofChildHealth.Heconducts
researchonpaediatricenergeticsandbodycomposition,usinganthropo-
logicalandevolutionaryapproachestoinformbiologicalunderstanding.
CambridgeStudiesinBiologicalandEvolutionaryAnthropology
Serieseditors
human ecology
C.G.NicholasMascie-Taylor,UniversityofCambridge
MichaelA.Little,StateUniversityofNewYork,Binghamton
genetics
KennethM.Weiss,PennsylvaniaStateUniversity
human evolution
RobertA.Foley,UniversityofCambridge
NinaG.Jablonski,CaliforniaAcademyofScience
primatology
KarenB.Strier,UniversityofWisconsin,Madison
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The Evolutionary Biology of
Human Body Fatness
Thrift and Control
JonathanC.K. Wells
UCLInstituteofChildHealth
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
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Cambridge University Press
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Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521884204
© J. C. K. Wells 2010
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the
provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part
may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2009
ISBN-13 978-0-511-69135-5 eBook (NetLibrary)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-88420-4 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
ThisbookisdedicatedtoW.AndyCoward
(1941–2007)

Contents
Preface pageix
1 Introduction 1
2 Humanfatnessinbroadcontext 16
3 Proximatecausesoflipiddepositionandoxidation 49
4 Theontogeneticdevelopmentofadiposity 92
5 Thelife-courseinductionofadiposity 118
6 Thefitnessvalueoffat 153
7 Theevolutionarybiologyofadiposetissue 195
8 Adiposityinhomininevolution 215
9 Adiposityinhumanevolution 244
10 Theevolutionofhumanobesity 270
References 302
Index 363
vii