People weren't obese ages ago, and I am sure that's not because of better nutritional education.
It's a multifactorial problem.
It's a multifactorial problem.
Not saying I know any better, but at it's face I don't buy this. The change in day-to-day activity doesn't feel like it would account for the difference from just the 80s to now.
> while the calorie inputs available cheaply dramatically increased.
This I buy much more, confounded with maybe the specifics of the nutrients available.
But you're not factoring in the fact that as your weight increases so does your idle energy costs, meaning that as you gain weight you burn more calories doing nothing. Put another way, if today you burn 1500 calories a day idle, and you start eating 2000 calories a day - at some point you will reach an equilibrium, likely well before you're obese.
I'm also in the camp that thinks that lifestyle explanation for rises in obesity is completely unsubstantiated.
High-fructose corn syrup has been added to so many foods that didn't have it 10-20 years ago.
The second or third ingredient on a bottle of ketchup, for example, is high-fructose corn syrup. You can get ketchup that doesn't have high-fructose corn syrup added to it; often it's a natural or organic brand that often costs more than the regular brand.
And depending on where someone lives, brands without refined sugars may not be readily available. Google "food desert" and see what comes up.
It was literally impossible a generation or two ago to ingest the amount of carbohydrates the average American gets just from eating prepared and processed foods today.
We should just count ready-meals etc. as 'fast-food' too, no good reason that it implicitly refers to 'restaurants' only really.
> The second or third ingredient on a bottle of ketchup, for example, is high-fructose corn syrup.
Interesting, that didn't sound right to me (but it has been a long time since I've had it) - found this: https://www.truthorfiction.com/heinz-ketchup-ingredients-u-s... (tldr just sugar in the UK)