Hannah Hecht's Blog

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/opinion/sunday/debunking-the-hunter-gatherer-workout.html?hpw

The New York Times article entitled “Debunking the Hunter-Gatherer Workout” by Herman Ponzer, explores the cause of modern-day obesity. While many people believe that Americans’ sedentary lifestyle, coupled with man’s hunter-gatherer origins, is leading to unprecedented rates of obesity, the article assures us that that is not the case. Ponzer’s study found that the hunter-gatherer Hadza people of Tanzania expend no more energy than sedentary Americans and, instead, use their caloric intake more efficiently. Ponzer study suggests that the cure to obesity lies not in increased exercise, but in portion control and more nutritious eating habits.

This story is newsworthy because it conveys information that can be helpful to people in their daily lives. A woman exercising vigorously to lose “those last five pounds” may read this article and decide to dial back on the exercise and focus more on diet. Meanwhile, an athlete may read it and realize that no matter what he is doing in practice, he still has to have a balanced diet to keep healthy. This also goes against what many scientists before it have said, therefore, a study with results that are so incredibly out of the ordinary deserves to be published.

I really enjoyed reading this article; it upturned a widespread belief and offered sufficient evidence. However, I was left with many unanswered questions, especially about the lives of the Hadza people. What type of game do they hunt? What are their traditions? To what degree are they cut off from the rest of society? Do they have any religious beliefs? If I were the one writing this article, I think I would write it as a much longer feature story. I would still present the findings about the “hunter-gatherer workout,” but I would do it in a much more in-depth and descriptive way. Maybe I would compare the daily life of the average American with the daily life of one of the Hadza people, and then tie it all together with the study’s findings. While the article gives very interesting information with regard to health, it only scratches the surface of a goldmine of cultural material.