> Diets are most successful amongst individuals willing to make considerable lifestyle changes, being mindful of what they’re eating at all times, and for the r

> Diets are most successful amongst individuals willing to make considerable lifestyle changes, being mindful of what they’re eating at all times, and for the rest of their lives. That is, individuals with certain personality traits, particularly high on conscientiousness and low on neuroticism (and generally, higher in IQ) This is completely nonsense. Availability of healthy food, income to buy healthier food as it's usually expensive, etc. IQ may be a factor, but not even the most important one. > Long-term behavior modification, which would be required for successful weight loss for overweight individuals, is a central point of Daniel Callahan’s idea that obese people should be “shamed” into losing weight. ... The flaw in this idea should be obvious: there is no way to perform population-wide “counseling” necessary to achieve this effect; Callahan’s hopes are unrealistic. 100% an USA problem where health education is lobbied to death. Many countries educate their children since school to brush their teeth and to eat healthy. > Obesity may simply be a fact of life we need to accept in the modern world. "Please do not tax sugar" > Deaths from cardiovascular disease actually peaked during the Baby Boom years and have been declining ever since, in fact decline as obesity rates have risen. In short CVD is becoming less of a problem, not more. Wall-E level of life quality. Life is not just about surviving but about being as healthy as possible to enjoy it.