I run 50km per week on my treadmill and eat a calorie-restricted diet; this is something our ancestors didn’t have to do. But then they didn’t sit at a desk all day and certainly did not have access to such energy rich food. Unfortunately our animals have joined us on the couch. Take a walk down the pet food aisle in the supermarket and you may be surprised to see rows of diet cat and dog food.
In the US more than 50% of cats and dogs are obese or overweight, just 10% less than the human population. Obese people are less likely to recognise that their pet is also obese: a body perception failure which will result in a cramped sofa. Thus, the world obesity crisis is not just affecting humans but also the animals that live with us.
Just as with humans, obesity has an extremely negative effect on animal health, and their causes appear to be similar: sedentary life style and easily available energy rich foods. In both humans and animals the consequences include diabetes, cancer, hypertension or heart-disease. In the case of pets we are killing them with “kindness”.
We as humans are responsible for our own health and the health of the animals that share our lives. This includes animals in zoos. A study published this year showed that more than 40% of elephants in captivity are obese. They are so obese that it is negatively affecting their longevity and fertility. Fertility rates in the captive elephant population are so low that it is not self-sustaining; this could result in the need to collect individuals from the wild. Pot-belly problems affect all groups of zoo animals from primates such as lemurs to crocodilians.
