>why did the obesity crisis only come about in the last part of 20th century I can guess at two factors. Firstly, food started to get really cheap in the 1960s

>why did the obesity crisis only come about in the last part of 20th century I can guess at two factors. Firstly, food started to get really cheap in the 1960s. Secondly, and not entirely unrelatedly, since that time we haven't suffered a major war or plague. (Up till this point, European history had more or less consisted of wars and plagues.) Instead people have enjoyed prosperity with more and more attendant consumption, not just of food, but of entertainment and culture. Here's the potentially controversial bit: in my experience, cultural consumption is enhanced by 'lower level' consumption such as eating rich food and drinking coffee and alcohol. The reason these help is (paradoxically) because they distress the body, causing the brain to compensate by secreting natural sedatives. These in turn allow the mind to race, temporarily free from the constraints of fear and worry. Gluten, being a lectin, is a stressor of animal intestines. Hence bread, cakes and pasta serve admirably in this regard.