Information DietClay A. Johnson

“What we know about diets hasn’t changed. It still makes sense to eat

lots of fruits and vegetables, balance calories from other foods, and keep

calories under control. That, however, does not make front-page news.”

(Marion Nestle)

A map showing annual obesity rates for each state in 1985

We’ve known that obesity is bad for a very long time.

For thousands of years, obesity was usually a disease affecting only the most affluent.

Food especially the delicious, calorie-dense stuff was simply too expensive for the average person to obtain.

Few could afford to be fat, and thus being so was often considered a way to display one’s prosperity.

Lessons From Obesity

Then a great technological shift happened, much like the one that we faced in the second half of the twentieth century.

New technology and new techniques increased our food supply.

The food supply became more abundant, and access to it improved.

In 20 years the obesity rate no higher than 14% in any state to an obesity rate no lower than 20% in any state, and an obesity rate higher than 25% in most states.

The calorie-dense foods are now less expensive and more readily available than ever.

A modern Epidemic

A map showing annual obesity rates for each state in 2010.

We know beyond any scientific doubt that being fat kills.

For more than a century and a half, the medical community has known that sugars and carbohydrates make us fat.

Imagery of being perfectly shaped and skinny trumps being healthy and happy, and as a result, scores of people suffer and die from eating disorders.

The modern Diet

‘In the diet aisle, our relationship to food can take on social, political, and environmental significance. A healthy diet mustn’t just include the right number of calories and the right interaction of nutritional elements. It must also produce the least amount of carbon, and be as natural as possible. It’s no longer good enough to eat reasonable portions of lean meat; the meat must come from a cow that could roam free and eat grass.’

Thank You

(Mohira Pirmadova)