OAC1 – Why do I like to eat and other questions about eating and obesity
Coordinator: Claudio Pérez-Leighton. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile.
During the last decades, and despite the available treatments or policy interventions, obesity rates have steadily increased in Chile and worldwide. One of the main causes of obesity is excess food intake, which has been related to a lack of restrain in eating palatable, tasty food. However, our predilection for palatable food and our ability to eat it beyond satiety or without hunger is not just a problem of willpower, but it has deep biological roots that reach our brain and ability as a species to survive. In this seminar, we will discuss four questions about the scientific evidence about food intake and obesity: Why do we like to eat? What is the difference between hunger and desire to eat? What is an “edible” and is it different from food? and why do diets almost always fail? The goal of this seminar is to bring the science about eating and obesity closer to the general public to help them better understand their daily decisions about food and its health consequences.