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> I assume this has never happened in human history at this scale.

We never had synthetic nitrogen fertilizers before. This is the first era where humanity does not have to experience widespread, frequent, deadly, hunger. This is also why there are eight billion people on the planet: we have enough calories to support that many. There were only 1.7 billion people when the Haber process was invented.

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There was not widespread hunger in the US in 1970. This has nothing to do with the obesity epidemic in the US.

While cost of food (as a percentage of income) has declined significantly, hunger is a real issue in the US and shouldn't be downplayed.

Currently, in the US, there an estimated 40M people and 13M children at risk or experiencing hunger: https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details?pubid=1077...

Although true, it still has nothing to do with the obesity rate. My comment was about the idea that it was a lack of food availability that prevented obesity before about 1980.

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