Most of us carry around a bit more weight than we want to admit to. As the news media have made entirely too plain, excessive weight is rampant and is especially a problem—though not limited to—our Hispanic population. Why? One likely explanation is that desert people are adapted to the boom and bust cycles so common in challenging habitats.
In the best of years and seasons, the desert produces abundantly. But
before freezers and vermin-proof bins, food often must have been at a premium by late
winter. The bad years, when the rains don't appear or the frost comes early, tend
to be frequent in the desert, and a bad year means little food. Those individuals who
were genetically able to store large amounts of fat during the good times were those
who most often survived, passing their genes on; those who could not, starved.
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.