Study the behavior of overweight dogs to find answers about the cause of obesity

A recent study by Hungarian scientists about dog behavior promises to help clarify the connection between personality and reaction of obese people.

According to Newsweek, scientists at ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary have used dogs in the research model of causes and psychological effects leading to human obesity.

In the study, the scientists divided the dogs into two groups based on their weight and obesity levels. Initially, they will place a bowl of unattractive food and low energy value in front of dogs. After that, they will put the second bowl containing more delicious and energetic food.

Behavior in obese dogs may be related to the behavior and awareness of overweight people.

Scientists say obese dogs are more likely to wait for bowls to have more energy value and they are willing to do everything to get that bowl. However unexpectedly, obese dogs quickly rushed to eat the "poor" bowl first and decided not to wait for the second bowl to be more attractive.

Meanwhile, normal-weight dogs decided to look and wait for the second bowl with better food.

"We expect obese dogs to do everything to get good food. But in the experiment, we found the opposite, they behave in a negative way," said study leader Orsolya Torda . In the event that food cannot be found, obese dogs hardly want to spend too much energy searching, even when forced to eat the least energy-consuming foods. "

The team thinks that this behavior in obese dogs may be related to the behavior and perception of overweight people. In other words, obese people often have the "appetite" mentality and laziness. They are willing to accept all kinds of food even though they may not be very nutritious.

Although the behavior of humans and dogs has many similarities, it is still too early to conclude, we will act similarly to obese dogs.

The relationship between human and animal obesity is always different, even controversial.

From an evolutionary point of view, this could be a beneficial behavior for wildlife. Because animals rarely dare to have a similar meal. Therefore, they often take every opportunity to eat when they can. However, when animals are tamed and live in a more complete environment, they will form a habit of waiting patiently to eat better food.

From many perspectives, this study still has limitations because the relationship between obesity in humans and animals is always different, even controversial. From a genetic point of view, genes, healthy foods or exercise regimes can be a more effective way of losing weight instead of "psychological" spanking like animals.

Research has been published in the recent Royal Society Open Science.