Minding the Obesity Epidemic
posted by Frank Pasquale
Jeanne Whalen at the WSJ has a fascinating piece on a slew of new obesity drugs now in clinical trials. There’s a lot to comment on, but I was struck by a chart on the front page, giving the following rates of obesity (BMI > 30) in different countries in 2005:
US: 39%
UK: 23%
France: 7%
China: 2%
Japan: 2%
These are pretty shocking figures. The chart mentions that the obesity rate in the US was 35% in 2002….so the percentage by which obesity increased in the US in three years is double the overall percentage in the Asian countries mentioned. How is it that twenty times as many Americans are obese than Chinese or Japanese nationals?
I plan to look for answers in Avner Offer’s The Challenge of Affluence: Self-Control and Well-Being in the United States and Britain Since 1950. The book is a masterpiece of meta-analysis, reportage, and Jon Elster-style explication of the microfoundations of social action. Offer’s thesis is (inadequately) summarized below:
Resources and cravings do not map precisely on to well-being. . . .Over the last two decades, a new understanding began to emerge, especially from psychology and economics, that what we want and choose can often fail to deliver, and can even be counter-productive. . . . This understanding is the work of many inquiries and disciplines. My effort here is to extrapolate it to the personal dynamics of affluence during the last six decades. . . .
Offer has a whole chapter explaining the ways in which high levels of competition, stress, and inequality in American and British society contribute to compulsive, mindless, or otherwise unhealthy eating.
Kudos also to Cass Sunstein for exploring the issue in his review of Brian Wansink’s diet book Mindless Eating . Bottom line:
Wansink has concluded that much eating is mindless. Americans are fat not because they have made a rational calculation that French fries are so yummy that they are worth the costs in health and svelte. Nor are French fries essentially irresistible. Often Americans eat because of contextual cues, or “hidden persuaders,” to which they are blind, but which greatly affect their behavior. . . . Wansink’s real subject is choosing, not eating, so even thin people should read it.
Philosophers ranging from Aristotle to Dewey recognized the ultimate importance of habit, and Wansink brings their insights into a world of diet fads sorely in need of philosophical perspectives.
So what’s the bottom line for law? Well, given the insights of Offer and Wansink, the agenda for regulation currently pushed at The Situationist makes a lot more sense.
The new obesity control drugs may also have some interesting implications for medical marijuana laws. Consider the mechanism of action of Acomplia:
Acomplia, known by the generic name rimonabant, attacks obesity in a new way, by blocking receptors in the brain and in fat cells that help regulate appetite and metabolism. Cannabis, the active ingredient in marijuana, acts on the same receptors, which is believed to explain why marijuana users often get hungry.
I suppose this makes Acomplia something of an anti-marijuana, but the larger parallel may help support the thesis of Richard Grandpre’s provocative Cult of Pharmacology: that legal and illegal drugs have mechanisms of action that sometimes are strikingly similar. (For the opposite view, see the Peter Kramer review on the Amazon page.)
March 29, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Posted in: Health Law
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Responses (11)
SalvoSensu - March 29, 2007 at 11:45 pm
When are we all going to take a long rational look at the statistics? This obesity epidemic, which began in the late eighties/early ninties directly correlates with the introduction and use of high fructose corn syrup in soft drinks and processed foods. So does the current epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes. There is evidence for this, solid evidence, published all over the web! And as the use of that poison grows, so do these epidemics of illness. Its being used quite deliberately by the junk food industry because its been proven to cause binge eating as a side effect! Its worse than trans-fatty acids and more insidious than cigarettes! Wake up and smell the poison, people!
Camilo - September 20, 2007 at 5:52 pm
If you have tried all kind of diets and exercises to loss weight and you haven’t bring it, you need more help with
that problem.
Every body is different in composition and metabolism. Perhaps you need any medicine to obtain the hoped results.
If you visit this website, you can find those medicines and you can get them in a simple way:
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Camilo - September 20, 2007 at 5:52 pm
If you have tried all kind of diets and exercises to loss weight and you haven’t bring it, you need more help with
that problem.
Every body is different in composition and metabolism. Perhaps you need any medicine to obtain the hoped results.
If you visit this website, you can find those medicines and you can get them in a simple way:
http://www.trustedprescriptionsonline.com
Moreover, you can make here your questions online.
Cucufate - October 30, 2007 at 11:44 am
If you want to reduce your weight, you need to do a lot of exercise to accelerate your metabolism. It’s better if you do cardiovascular exercise, because this kind of exercise helps you burn fat…
You should begin with a good eating plan, combining fats and sweets with fruits and vegetables. It will be better if you drink at least eight glasses of water daily to control your calories and your cholesterol.
If you want you can use some pills to control your weight and to accelerate the process of burning fat.
I know some pills which you can use to reduce your weight. Those pills are Xenical and Hoodia. Their results are excellent and fast.
Visit this website to find more information:
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bodydetoxdiet - August 3, 2009 at 7:56 pm
lots of americans and europeans are getting obese these days because of over-eating. people should be controlling what they eat or they should workout their body to burn fat.
acnesolutions health site - September 13, 2009 at 12:45 am
the best solution for obesity is none other than Exercise and Proper diet. i would try to avoid slimming pills or fat burning food supplements
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[...] minding the obesity epidemic – jeanne whalen at the wsj has a fascinating piece on a slew of new obesity drugs now in clinical trials. there’s a lot to comment on, but i was struck by a chart on the front page, giving the following rates of obesity (bmi > 30) in … [...]
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[...] minding the obesity epidemic – jeanne whalen at the wsj has a fascinating piece on a slew of new obesity drugs now in clinical trials. there’s a lot to comment on, but i was struck by a chart on the front page, giving the following rates of obesity (bmi > 30) in … [...]
lose chest fat - December 4, 2009 at 11:17 am
I have recently returned from Australia and noted that the portion sizes of restaurant meals are growing rapidly. Last time I was over, around 18 months ago, the servings were only slightly larger than those at home in the UK. Now, they are more akin to the HUGE servings that were being served up in Florida 10 years ago.
I read somewhere that Australia is the fattest nation on earth behind the U.S. I have a feeling that if the Ausies carry on the way they are, then they will shortly overtake America!
Jamie Apple - March 1, 2010 at 4:37 am
Obesity is really an epidemic these days. People have become very lazy and does not want to exercise anymore. I do a lot of jogging and brisk walking everyday just to be fit and healthy.
Best Foods for Burning Fat - March 7, 2010 at 2:55 am
[...] minding the obesity epidemic – jeanne whalen at the wsj has a fascinating piece on a slew of new obesity drugs now in clinical trials. there’s a lot to comment on, but i was struck by a chart on the front page, giving the following rates of obesity (bmi > 30) in … [...]
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