Millennials have harder time stopping weight gain than their parents did: study

On the popular Tumblr blog Dads Are the Original Hipsters, men of the Baby Boomer generation are shown in their heyday rocking long tresses, moustaches and big sunglasses. There’s also an uncanny number of tight T-shirts and short shorts showing off their taut tummies and lean legs.

Millennials have ripped off the aesthetic of their dads (and moms), but tend to be less taut and lean than the Baby Boomers were back in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

But, before you start ranting and raving about how ‘kids today’ are fatter than ever because they eat too much and move too little a new study has found it’s more complicated than that.

Life’s not fair, kiddos

According to a study by York University and University of Alberta researchers, the offspring of the Boomers have to work out harder and eat less to maintain the same figure as their parents did at their age.

The study, published in Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, analyzed dietary data of nearly 36,400 American adults collected between 1971 and 2008. And, physical activity frequency data, of 14,419 adults between 1988 to 2006 period was also used.

The researchers found people were about 10 percent heavier in 2008 than in 1971, even if they reported eating the same amount of calories. The study also found people were five per cent heavier in 2006 compared to 1988, despite reporting doing the same exercise.

Questioning the accepted wisdom of your elders

Boomer parents, as well as health professionals and the media, have long argued weight loss and maintenance essentially boils down to: Eat less, move more.

Jennifer Kuk, a co-author of the study and an associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York U, argues it’s not quite that simple.

While everyone, including Millennials, must, indeed eat less and move more to shed weight, there are several factors unique to modern culture that seem to be making it harder for people to get to and maintain a healthy weight, said Kuk in a phone interview with Yahoo Canada.

Good news/bad news

The good news is, if you’ve been consistently jogging and eating right it’s probably not all your fault you can’t seem to lose those last five pounds. The bad news is you’ll have to do more jogging than your dad did to get the bod your hipster dad had back in the day.

“You can only control what you can control,” said Kuk.

Some of the things unique to our modern world that you have little control over that could be contributing to weight gain are the abundance of pesticides and chemicals in our environment.

Other things that many people chose to put in their bodies, such as meat which is often pumped full of steroids and prescription pills such as anti-depressants can also contribute to weight gain, the professor said.

Having too much stress and getting too little sleep can lead to an expanding waistline, as well.

And even positive things such as a decrease in the prevalence of smoking over the decades might be leading to Millennials having to buy bigger skinny jeans.

Now here’s the really bad news, young ‘uns

The really bad news is as far as researchers know there is no one single thing making it harder for Millennials to lose weight. But, Kuk believes something is going on and more research is needed to find out what exactly.

Animals are also getting heavier and no one knows exactly why yet, said the professor. Even lab rats, whose diets are strictly controlled and monitored, are getting heavier, she added.

The times they are a changin’

Whatever the reason, or reasons, today’s hipsters may just have to accept they will be a little chunkier than their original hipster parents were at their age.

Those in their 20s and 30s now should focus on living a healthy, balanced life, not overly focusing on getting to a specific number on the scale, advised the professor.