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It Was Easier For Your Parents to Lose Weight

According to a study published in the journal Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, it’s harder for millennials to lose weight than it was for their parents’ generation, but no one really knows why.

It's not always easy to convince your parents that they had it easier at your age.

But once in awhile, science confirms the beliefs of entitled millennials. Though this scientific discovery won't make getting a job any easier.

According to a study published in the journal Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, it would appear that it's harder for millennials to lose weight than it was for their parents' generation—even if they eat and exercise exactly as much as their 1980s counterparts.

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Researchers looked at data 36,377 Americans from 1971 to 1981 and homed in on physical activity frequency and caloric intake in order to see how the relationship between the two things varied, if at all, over time. The results were counter-intuitive, to say the least.

"We observe that for a given amount of self-reported food intake, people will be about 10 percent heavier in 2008 than in 1971, and about five percent heavier for a given amount of physical activity level in 1988 than 2006," lead researcher Ruth Brown said in a statement, adding, "These secular changes may in part explain why we have seen the dramatic rise in obesity."

But these results also open the door to a number of possibilities. "Our study results suggest that if you are 40 years old now, you'd have to eat even less and exercise more than if you were a 40 year old in 1971, to prevent gaining weight," co-author Jennifer Kuk said. "However, it also indicates there may be other specific changes contributing to the rise in obesity beyond just diet and exercise.

Their article concluded that further research would be necessary to determine just what those factors are but it's probably safe to rule out cheesy sideburns, mustaches, and bell-bottoms at this point.

Kuk stressed that the human body is influenced by factors as disparate as "lifestyle and environment, such as medication use, environmental pollutants, genetics, timing of food intake, stress, gut bacteria, and even nighttime light exposure."

But one thing is for sure, says Kuk. "Ultimately, maintaining a healthy body weight is now more challenging than ever."