Is human seasonality implicated in the risk profile for obesity?

Although seasonality might once have been a successful energy conservation strategy for people living in temperate regions, this physiological phenomenon may now foster accumulating annual weight gain and thereby feature in the risk profile for obesity. We tested the hypothesis that seasonality relates to BMI, and that this association is mediated by a preference for carbohydrates and the tendency to binge eat. In a sample of men and women, gender significantly moderated the relationship between seasonality and BMI. In men, the relationship was positive, but these two variables did not co-vary in women. Reasons why seasonality is positively associated with BMI only in men are not immediately apparent. It is possible that other gender-specific risk factors for overeating may contribute to these findings.