Jimmu's blog

Supporting what I wrote below about obesity being a result of the way we live,not just of a lack of physical activity, or calories here is the book The Fattening of America:

“What’s behind the sudden, explosive rise in obesity rates? In a word, it’s economics. Author Eric Finkelstein, a renowned health economist who has spent much of his career studying the economics of obesity, with the help of coauthor Laurie Zuckerman, reveals why America’s growing waistline is a by-product of our economic and technological success. Because of declining food costs, especially for high-calorie, low-nutrient foods, and increasing usage of technology, which make Americans more sedentary, the environment has changed in such a way that we’re eating more calories and burning off less.

The issue is not that Americans don’t care about their increasing waistlines—quite the opposite, in fact. But the reality is that in America’s (and increasingly the world’s) obesity-inducing environment, the sustained changes in behavior required to lose the weight and keep it off are simply too difficult—and becoming more difficult all the time. Moreover, generous insurance coverage and vastly improved medical treatments have lowered the health costs, if not the monetary costs, of excess weight. So carrying a few extra pounds is not as bad for one’s health as it used to be.”