Obesity epidemic cause of the week: Lack of sunlight

Glamour Magazine

Hoo doggie, nothing better than starting a week with a brand-spanking-new culprit in the war against obesity. The villain of the moment is vitamin D, that important little fat-soluble vitamin that gets sucked up into your body via your skin. That's right, unlike the rest of the vitamin alphabet that you have to stick in your mouth somehow, you can get vitamin D without swallowing a thing. When your skin is exposed to ultraviolet B rays, it starts cranking out the D juice.

What does that have to do with obesity? Well, it seems that larger people tend to have less vitamin D in their systems. We all know that correlation does not imply causation, but the smarties at the Daily Mail have jumped on this as a chance to say that England's weather is making them fat. Okay then! Let's not pay attention to the fact that England has had the same weather since...well...ever, and the rate of obesity in England have been going up over the last 50 years. But sure, blame the fog! Denial is a happy state.

Even if you're locked in a cubicle farm for ten hours a day, you can also get vitamin D through dietary sources. Cow's milk tends to be fortified with the stuff and certain fish, like sardines and mackerel, are loaded with it. Mushrooms are one of the only natural vegan sources.

Bit of trivia: vitamin D is the reason why people who come from ethnicities that originated in extremely northern parts of the globe have lighter skin, while ethnicities that came from areas closer to the equator tend to have darker skin. Melanin is produced to make the skin darker and protect it from vitamin D overdose, which is also why you eventually get a suntan after a temporary exposure to too much sunlight. How's that for your Monday science break?

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[photo credit: Getty Images]