I thought we'd take a look together at the word obesogenic because, at least for me, it's one of those terms whose very existence just makes things click for me. It makes the world make a little more sense. I see the word obesogenic and I think, "Oh! Right! That's how society works."

I get the same sense of clarity about human society and the human condition from the existence of the terms below. Can you recall them?

1. German for "head cinema," a K___kino is a movie that plays inside your head, often while reading a book or listening to a friend tell a story.

2.  N____n doors are the kind that are designed really poorly, giving you no clear signal of how you're supposed to open them. It's not just you being a dummy; it's the doors being badly designed.

3. Japanese for "the sorrow of things," m___ n_ aw___ is the bittersweet feeling of enjoying or appreciating things while knowing that they won't last.

4. French for "wit of the staircase," es____ de l'es_____r  is a great response, especially a witty one, that you think of too late, as if you've left the conversation and you're already going up or down the stairs.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)  

As we explore the word "obesogenic," please keep in mind that I'm not a healthcare professional of any kind. Just a word-lover. 

The word "obese," meaning "so overweight that the person's health is at risk," comes from the Latin obesus, meaning "fat or stout."

Combine "obese" with the suffix "-genic," meaning "producing or generating," and you get "obesogenic." It's a pretty new word, dating back to 1983.

It describes things, places, situations, and societies that tend to cause people to become or stay obese. We can use it literally to describe chemical processes in the body, or more abstractly to describe the entire social context that makes it easy for people to gain weight and hard for them to lose it.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "an obesogenic diet;" "We live in an obesogenic society."

Other forms: 

"Obesogens" are disruptive chemicals in the body that can lead to weight gain.

I haven't seen the forms "obesogenically" or "obesogenicism," but you could use them anyway and be understood.

how to use it:

"Obesogenic" is a precise, scientific-sounding word that, while rare, is pretty easy to understand.

It may come in handy when you're talking about someone's struggle to maintain a healthy body weight: you might want to describe certain factors as obesogenic.

More specifically, you might talk about obesogenic foods, diets, habits, behaviors, situations, communities, environments, and societies.

examples:

"The Obama administration has been trying to reduce the amount of obesogenic foods in school cafeterias, under the theory that stopping obesity-inducing eating habits at an early age might stop the obesity crisis in its tracks. It's been an uphill fight." 
—David Sirota, Salon, 16 May 2012

"Obesity experts would say that we all live in what they call an 'obesogenic' environment, with fast food heavily marketed, and often cheaper, than food prepared from scratch. Screens distract us from the social give and take of family meals, even while advertising processed foods, and other societal factors encourage everyone to keep on snacking and sipping."
—Perri Klass, New York Times, 8 January 2018

has this page helped you understand "obesogenic"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "obesogenic" without saying "culture that causes weight gain" or "context that breeds obesity."

try it out:

If we're talking about which foods and drinks are obesogenic, it could be a matter of degree.

For example, according to Matthew Gillman, director of the Obesity Prevention Program at Harvard Medical School, "full calorie sugary beverages are the most obesogenic, and water is the least obesogenic," with diet sodas being somewhere in between. (What? Diet sodas have no calories! But Gillman says they "tend to lead people to eat too much.")

Could you name another set of foods or drinks that are the most obesogenic, the least, and somewhere in between?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Eddie Izzardisms!"

Consider a quote from Eddie Izzard's delightful stand-up comedy, and decide which of three given terms you can most easily connect it to. You can see my suggested answer by scrolling to the bottom of the issue. But yours doesn't need to match mine. 

Try this one today:

"Cats have a scam going – you buy the food, they eat the food, they go away; that's the deal."

Allegiant, compliant, or insouciant?

review this word:

1. A close opposite of OBESOGENIC is

A. CHARY: cautious and concerned.
B. SALUTARY: wholesome, good for your health.
C. SEDENTARY: involving long periods of sitting and not exercising.

2. According to Gina Kolata, "_____" contributes, at least in part, to our "obesogenic environment."

A. a pattern of medical advances and failures
B. the abundance of cheap fast foods and snacks
C. a gene mutation that could lead to a fatal disease

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. B From the game, here's a suggested answer: I kind of like all three words for this situation. If I had to pick, it'd be insouciant, because cats are utterly unbothered by the lopsidedness of the arrangement.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.