The Obesity Blame Game

the-angry-chef.com

4 pointsdcminter3 comments

I appreciate how the article questions a simplistic narrative for the obesity epidemic narrative but offers a simplistic justification in place. Let's be real: something is clearly off on how we consume food. Walk into any supermarket and just look at the shelf space: fresh produce gets a sliver compared to mountains of processed, packaged foods. It's not about blaming individuals either, it's about acknowledging the food environment and reason about if we really wanna keep going this direction or not. BMI upward trend is undeniable, and so is the link between higher BMIs and serious health problems like diabetes and heart disease. We can't ignore these facts.

In my opinion our collective diet is very bad and a big part of it is due to how cheap sugar has become. Just as we regulate alcohol, we need stricter controls on added sugar. If you want to indulge in sweets or sugary drinks, fine, but it shouldn't be the default option staring you in the face at every checkout.

> Let’s be clear, I am not saying that obesity is good, or that it should be ignored. I am certainly not saying there are no issues within our food system. I am just pointing out that BMI rose steadily for decades throughout the 20th century, and that rise was almost certainly because the food supply improved dramatically over that time, meaning that fewer people were going hungry. Although there is a strong argument that there has been a disproportionate increase in extremely high BMIs in more recent decades (a different issue entirely in my opinion), nothing special happened in 1978.

I'd say that paragraph agrees with you on all points except that it doesn't specifically nail sugar as a culprit.

No idea where the author stands on that though.

The constant axe grinding against Blondie is distracting.

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