[nateconq]

Only in our current environment. If food was scarce, wouldn't those who can store energy better be more likely to survive?

[trhway]

>If food was scarce, wouldn't those who can store energy better be more likely to survive?

it is also depends on how much more energy one has to expend to haul that stored energy around.

[izzydata]

I get what you are saying, but I don't think being fat is evidence of being able to survive in an environment of food shortages.

[dragonwriter]

Polycystic ovarian syndrome, which contributes to obesity in women, seems to have adaptive advantages in famine of the type speculated upthread (and also including increased fertility then, though decreased fertility in abundant food situations.)

It's not too much of a stretch to consider that there may be metabolic conditions in men linked to obesity risk that have the same kind of advantages in reduced-food-supply situations.