A big fat crisis : the hidden forces behind the obesity epidemic - and how we can end it

Obesity is the public health crisis of the twenty-first century. Over 150 million Americans are overweight or obese, and across the globe an estimated 1.5 billion are affected. In A Big Fat Crisis , Dr. Deborah A. Cohen has created a major new work that will transform the conversation surrounding the modern weight crisis. Based on her own extensive research, as well as the latest insights from behavioral economics and cognitive science, Cohen reveals what drives the obesity epidemic and how we, as a nation, can overcome it. Cohen argues that the massive increase in obesity is the product of two forces. One is the immutable aspect of human nature, namely the fundamental limits of self-control and the unconscious ways we are hard-wired to eat. And second is the completely transformed modern food environment, including lower prices, larger portion sizes, and the outsized influence of food advertising. We live in a food swamp, where food is cheap, ubiquitous, and insidiously marketed. This, rather than the much-discussed “food deserts,” is the source of the epidemic. The conventional wisdom is that overeating is the expression of individual weakness and a lack of self-control. But that would mean that people in this country had more willpower thirty years ago, when the rate of obesity was half of what it is today! The truth is that our capacity for self-control has not shrunk; instead, the changing conditions of our modern world have pushed our limits to such an extent that more and more of us are simply no longer up to the challenge. Ending this public health crisis will require solutions that transcend the advice found in diet books. Simply urging people to eat less sugar, salt, and fat has not worked. A Big Fat Crisis offers concrete recommendations and sweeping policy changes—including implementing smart and effective regulations and constructing a more balanced food environment—that represent nothing less than a blueprint for defeating the obesity epidemic once and for all. In The Hot Days Of The Summer Of 1972, The New York City Health Department Investigated An Unusually High Incidence Of Deaths Among Toddlers Who Fell Out Of Tenement Windows. Initially Mothers And Caregivers Were Blamed For Not Being Alert, Not Properly Supervising Children, Or Simply Neglecting Naturally Curious Toddlers And Adventurous Young Children Who Leaned Out Of Apartment Windows, Or Crawled Onto Fire Escape Stairwells To Try And Cool Off. After An Investigation, The Health Department Launched A Campaign, Children Can't Fly And Offered Free Window Guards To Families In Tenement Buildings. The Next Summer, There Were No Falls From Buildings That Had The New Window Guards. The Story Of Children Can't Fly Is An Apt Analogy For The Problem And The Solution To The Obesity Epidemic. Children Are Born Curious And May Wander To An Open Window Even If (or Because) We Tell Them To Stay Away. All Of Us Were Born With The Capacity And Inclination To Eat More Than We Need. In A World Where There Is Too Much Food, We Currently Have No Constraints That Limit Our Natural Tendencies To Automatically Eat What Is Readily Available. Dr. Cohen Has Created A Major New Work Of Nonfiction That Will Transform The National Conversation Surrounding The Weight Crisis In This Country And Throughout The World. Based On Her Own Research At The Rand Corporation, As Well As The Latest Insights From Behavioral Economics, Psychology, Cognitive Science, And The Social Sciences, A Big Fat Crisis Reveals The Surprising Forces Behind The Obesity Epidemic And How We, As A Nation, Can Overcome It. Her Conclusions Contradict Conventional Wisdom And Widely Held Expert Opinion, And Go Against Our Own Intuitive Beliefs About The Way We Eat. They Represent, In Short, A Paradigm-shift In How We Approach The Problem Of Obesity-and The Solution. A Big Fat Crisis Argues That The Obesity Epidemic Is The Product Of Two Forces: (1) Immutable Aspects Of Human Nature, Namely The Fundamental Limits Of Self-control, The Lazy Decision-making Of The Brain's Non-cognitive System, And The Automatic And Unconscious Way That We Are Hard-wired To Eat; And (2) A Completely Transformed Food Environment: All Of The Food-related Elements Of Our Surroundings, Including Food Stores And Restaurants, Prices, Portion Sizes, The Types Of Food Available To Us, And Food Marketing And Advertising. A Big Fat Crisis Offers Concrete Solutions, Arguing That The Most Important And Modifiable Steps In The Chain Of Events That Leads To Obesity Are At The Point Of Purchase And The Point Of Consumption. Like Cholera And Typhoid In The 19th Century, Obesity Is A Public Health Crisis. Ending It Requires Solutions That Transcend Individual Behavior. Change Begins With A Fresh Perspective And A Clearer Vision Of What We Need To Do. We Can Tackle The Obesity Epidemic. We Just Can't Do It Alone-- Dr. Cohen Has Created A Work Of Nonfiction That Will Transform The National Conversation Surrounding The Weight Crisis In This Country And Throughout The World. Based On Her Own Research At The Rand Corporation, As Well As The Latest Insights From Behavioral Economics, Psychology, Cognitive Science, And The Social Sciences, A Big Fat Crisis Reveals The Surprising Forces Behind The Obesity Epidemic And How We, As A Nation, Can Overcome It. Her Conclusions Contradict Conventional Wisdom And Widely Held Expert Opinion, And Go Against Our Own Intuitive Beliefs About The Way We Eat. They Represent, In Short, A Paradigm-shift In How We Approach The Problem Of Obesity--and The Solution. A Big Fat Crisis Offers Concrete Solutions, Arguing That The Most Important And Modifiable Steps In The Chain Of Events That Leads To Obesity Are At The Point Of Purchase And The Point Of Consumption. Like Cholera And Typhoid In The 19th Century, Obesity Is A Public Health Crisis. Ending It Requires Solutions That Transcend Individual Behavior. Change Begins With A Fresh Perspective And A Clearer Vision Of What We Need To Do.-- Human Nature And Food. It's Not Your Fault ; The Limits Of Self-control ; The Overwhelmed Brain ; Eating Is Automatic. -- The Food Environment. Abundant And Cheap ; A Food Desert? : Try A Swamp ; Marketing Obesity. -- An Alternate Vision. A Plea For Change: We Are All In This Together ; A Safer Food Environment ; The Supermarket Of The Future ; Fit And Fat: What About Physical Activity? ; In The Meantime: What Individuals Can Do -- Healthier Meal Guidelines For Adults And Children. Deborah A. Cohen, Md. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 225-247) And Index. " In the hot days of the summer of 1972, the New York City Health Department investigated an unusually high incidence of deaths among toddlers who fell out of tenement windows. Initially mothers and caregivers were blamed for not being alert, not properly supervising children, or simply neglecting naturally curious toddlers and adventurous young children who leaned out of apartment windows, or crawled onto fire escape stairwells to try and cool off. After an investigation, the health department launched a campaign, "Children Can't Fly" and offered free window guards to families in tenement buildings. The next summer, there were no falls from buildings that had the new window guards. The story of "Children Can't Fly" is an apt analogy for the problem and the solution to the obesity epidemic. Children are born curious and may wander to an open window even if (or because) we tell them to stay away. All of us were born with the capacity and inclination to eat more than we need. In a world where there is too much food, we currently have no constraints that limit our natural tendencies to automatically eat what is readily available. Dr. Cohen has created a major new work of nonfiction that will transform the national conversation surrounding the weight crisis in this country and throughout the world. Based on her own research at the RAND corporation, as well as the latest insights from behavioral economics, psychology, cognitive science, and the social sciences, A Big Fat Crisis reveals the surprising forces behind the obesity epidemic and how we, as a nation, can overcome it. Her conclusions contradict conventional wisdom and widely held expert opinion, and go against our own intuitive beliefs about the way we eat. They represent, in short, a paradigm-shift in how we approach the problem of obesity-and the solution. A Big Fat Crisis argues that the obesity epidemic is the product of two forces: (1) Immutable aspects of human nature, namely the fundamental limits of self-control, the lazy decision-making of the brain's non-cognitive system, and the automatic and unconscious way that we are hard-wired to eat; and (2) A completely transformed food environment: all of the food-related elements of our surroundings, including food stores and restaurants, prices, portion sizes, the types of food available to us, and food marketing and advertising. A Big Fat Crisis offers concrete solutions, arguing that the most important and modifiable steps in the chain of events that leads to obesity are at the point of purchase and the point of consumption. Like cholera and typhoid in the 19th century, obesity is a public health crisis. Ending it requires solutions that transcend individual behavior. Change begins with a fresh perspective and a clearer vision of what we need to do. We can tackle the obesity epidemic. We just can't do it alone"-- Provided by publisher Obesity is the public health crisis of the twenty-first century. Over 150 million Americans are overweight or obese, and across the globe an estimated 1.5 billion are affected. In __A Big Fat Crisis__, Dr. Deborah A. Cohen has created a major new work that will transform the conversation surrounding the modern weight crisis. Based on her own extensive research, as well as the latest insights from behavioral economics and cognitive science, Cohen reveals what drives the obesity epidemic and how we, as a nation, can overcome it.Cohen argues that the massive increase in obesity is the product of two forces. One is the immutable aspect of human nature, namely the fundamental limits of self-control and the unconscious ways we are hard-wired to eat. And second is the completely transformed modern food environment, including lower prices, larger portion sizes, and the outsized influence of food advertising. We live in a food swamp, where food is cheap, ubiquitous, and insidiously marketed. This, rather than the much-discussed “food deserts,” is the source of the epidemic.The conventional wisdom is that overeating is the expression of individual weakness and a lack of self-control. But that would mean that people in this country had more willpower thirty years ago, when the rate of obesity was half of what it is today! The truth is that our capacity for self-control has not shrunk; instead, the changing conditions of our modern world have pushed our limits to such an extent that more and more of us are simply no longer up to the challenge.Ending this public health crisis will require solutions that transcend the advice found in diet books. Simply urging people to eat less sugar, salt, and fat has not worked. __A Big Fat Crisis__ offers concrete recommendations and sweeping policy changes—including implementing smart and effective regulations and constructing a more balanced food environment—that represent nothing less than a blueprint for defeating the obesity epidemic once and for all. Annotation Obesity is the public health crisis of the twenty-first century. Over 150 million Americans are overweight or obese, and across the globe an estimated 1.5 billion are affected. In A Big Fat Crisis, Dr. Deborah A. Cohen has created a major new work that will transform the conversation surrounding the modern weight crisis. Based on her own extensive research, as well as the latest insights from behavioral economics and cognitive science, Cohen reveals what drives the obesity epidemic and how we, as a nation, can overcome it. Cohen argues that the massive increase in obesity is the product of two forces. One is the immutable aspect of human nature, namely the fundamental limits of self-control and the unconscious ways we are hard-wired to eat. And second is the completely transformed modern food environment, including lower prices, larger portion sizes, and the outsized influence of food advertising. We live in a food swamp, where food is cheap, ubiquitous, and insidiously marketed. This, rather than the much-discussed food deserts, is the source of the epidemic. The conventional wisdom is that overeating is the expression of individual weakness and a lack of self-control. But that would mean that people in this country had more willpower thirty years ago, when the rate of obesity was half of what it is today! The truth is that our capacity for self-control has not shrunk; instead, the changing conditions of our modern world have pushed our limits to such an extent that more and more of us are simply no longer up to the challenge. Ending this public health crisis will require solutions that transcend the advice found in diet books. Simply urging people to eat less sugar, salt, and fat has not worked. A Big Fat Crisis offers concrete recommendations and sweeping policy changesincluding implementing smart and effective regulations and constructing a more balanced food environmentthat represent nothing less than a blueprint for defeating the obesity epidemic once and for all Human nature and food : It's not your fault ; The limits of self-control ; The overwhelmed brain ; Eating is automatic The food environment : Abundant and cheap ; A food desert? Try a swamp ; Marketing obesity An alternate vision : A plea for change: we are all in this together ; A safer food environment ; The supermarket of the future ; Fit and fat: what about physical activity? ; In the meantime: what individuals can do ; Conclusion Healthier meal guidelines for adults and children.