I think one has to ask a lot of questions before you can find the salient questions...diet and exercise do work, it's basic thermodynamics at play. How can individuals keep themselves motivated to stay on a regimen of fewer calories and more activity in a western world of perpetual plenty and sedentary work?
We weren't this fat earlier...even as recently as the 1970's, obese people were rare. According to http://lanekenworthy.net/2012/05/31/why-the-surge-in-obesity/ the most likely culprit isn't TV or the internet or more sedentary work, it's increased caloric consumption. Think of the 64oz Big Gulp at 7-11. 744 calories for a (non-diet) coca-cola at that size! And portion sizes keep going up in restaurants and grocery stores, given that even if its just 30 cents or a dollar to upsize a fast food meal, the added food in the portion costs much less than this, boosting profits on the sale. It's certainly in the immediate interest of businesses to maximize the wealth of their shareholders by boosting the profits of each sale. Consumers want a bargain. Both producers and consumers will resist any attempt by a government to regulate the portion size of food as an unwelcome intrusion of their freedom. Yet it will be the government and the health care system that will bear the external cost of their own populations slowly digging their own graves one fork-full at a time.
An effective solution that can be implemented into the society we have right now seems impossible for me to imagine.
Portion sizes are definitely a big deal. I battled with weight for a long time because I never really changed portion sizes, just how many meals I ate (would go from 180 to 250 pounds back and forth because of crash dieting and then crash eating). Only recently did I actually change the portion sizes of my meals, and have already lost around 30 pounds in 4 months. Not a super fast diet by any means, but a lot easier to keep the weight off because once you get used to the portion sizes, you don't really have a way to go back up in weight unless you suddenly start eating 4-5 meals a day.
I think one has to ask a lot of questions before you can find the salient questions...diet and exercise do work, it's basic thermodynamics at play. How can individuals keep themselves motivated to stay on a regimen of fewer calories and more activity in a western world of perpetual plenty and sedentary work?
We weren't this fat earlier...even as recently as the 1970's, obese people were rare. According to http://lanekenworthy.net/2012/05/31/why-the-surge-in-obesity/ the most likely culprit isn't TV or the internet or more sedentary work, it's increased caloric consumption. Think of the 64oz Big Gulp at 7-11. 744 calories for a (non-diet) coca-cola at that size! And portion sizes keep going up in restaurants and grocery stores, given that even if its just 30 cents or a dollar to upsize a fast food meal, the added food in the portion costs much less than this, boosting profits on the sale. It's certainly in the immediate interest of businesses to maximize the wealth of their shareholders by boosting the profits of each sale. Consumers want a bargain. Both producers and consumers will resist any attempt by a government to regulate the portion size of food as an unwelcome intrusion of their freedom. Yet it will be the government and the health care system that will bear the external cost of their own populations slowly digging their own graves one fork-full at a time.
An effective solution that can be implemented into the society we have right now seems impossible for me to imagine.
Portion sizes are definitely a big deal. I battled with weight for a long time because I never really changed portion sizes, just how many meals I ate (would go from 180 to 250 pounds back and forth because of crash dieting and then crash eating). Only recently did I actually change the portion sizes of my meals, and have already lost around 30 pounds in 4 months. Not a super fast diet by any means, but a lot easier to keep the weight off because once you get used to the portion sizes, you don't really have a way to go back up in weight unless you suddenly start eating 4-5 meals a day.