The provisioned primate: patterns of obesity across lemurs, monkeys, apes and humans

Abstract

Non-human primates are potentially informative but underutilized species for investigating obesity. I examined patterns of obesity across the Primate order, calculating the ratio of body mass in captivity to that in the wild. This index, relative body mass, for n = 40 non-human primates (mean ± s.d.: females: 1.28 ± 0.30, range 0.67–1.78, males: 1.24 ± 0.28, range 0.70–1.97) overlapped with a reference value for humans (women: 1.52, men: 1.44). Among non-human primates, relative body mass was unrelated to dietary niche, and was marginally greater among female cohorts of terrestrial species. Males and females had similar relative body masses, but species with greater sexual size dimorphism (male/female mass) in wild populations had comparatively larger female body mass in captivity. Provisioned populations in wild and free-ranging settings had similar relative body mass to those in research facilities and zoos. Compared to the wild, captive diets are unlikely to be low in protein or fat, or high in carbohydrate, suggesting these macronutrients are not driving overeating in captive populations. Several primate species, including chimpanzees, a sister-species to humans, had relative body masses similar to humans. Humans are not unique in the propensity to overweight and obesity. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Causes of obesity: theories, conjectures and evidence (Part II)’.