I think there is a long list of reasons to think it is lower.
Self control is a skill which requires practice. A huge amount of our time and practice is devoted to chasing immediate gratification. Doom scrolling, tv, ect. This is all practicing the opposite.
The thing we seem to be learning especially now with GLP-1 drugs is that a lot of skinny people are not skinny because they have iron self control, but because they don't need it, because their bodies aren't constantly sending them screaming chemical signals to eat. These drugs turn those signals down and suddenly people stop wanting to eat so much.
So another hypothesis that seems totally in keeping with the data is that either 1) some group of people have always had this problem in history, they just haven't had access to food like we do now, and/or 2) something about modernity is pushing those chemical triggers up to overdrive in more people.
Self-control really sucks as a solution to anything. When was the last societal problem solved by a national campaign of personal self-control?
Im not saying there isnt a biological component. I think a large portion of the USA has a trashed metabolic and hormonal system. A lot of this damage is irreversible from overconsumption.
unless we start dosing children with GLP-1s preventatively for weight and medicate them for attention we should probably think about how we relate to our environmental conditions long term and prevent patterns from repeating.
There are lots of people out there not living their best lives
Self control is a skill which requires practice. A huge amount of our time and practice is devoted to chasing immediate gratification. Doom scrolling, tv, ect. This is all practicing the opposite.