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Exercise and eating less is a valid response to the growing weight issue but it all stems from education and an understanding of how being overweight will impac

Exercise and eating less is a valid response to the growing weight issue but it all stems from education and an understanding of how being overweight will impact your life and, more importantly, your family's life. By education I don't mean college level stuff, I mean basic home skills and life skills education and instilling an understanding that fast food/sweets/crisps etc are fine in small amounts but that decent fruit, veg and fresh meat are the staple to a healthy life. Again, this doesn't need to be super complex, there isn't some sexy problem to be solved here, it is just basic, old fashioned food understanding etc. Think Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution type thing. Also, this is something where governments also need to step up and educate. Free market ethos is fine but preemptive measures don't sell or make money for business so the governments need to fill this gap.

freehunter 14y ago
The fact that this is just now becoming a global problem indicates that perhaps there is a problem to be solved here beyond education. Mankind (and our pets) did not evolve to live the lifestyle we're living. Sitting at a computer all day, driving home, then sitting at a TV all night. Changing diet is fine and it works well for some. Others might not have such as easy time of it. I don't know what the solution to the problem is. But if you do, you will be rich. Something has to change, globally: either our lifestyle or our bodily engineering. And changing lifestyles is not an easy thing to do.
- Avshalom 14y ago
  >did not evolve to live the lifestyle we're living evolution didn't magically stop.
  - TeMPOraL 14y ago
    But then it won't fix it sooner than in 10 000 years. Technological progress (and life style changes that follow it) has outpaced whatever biological processes of adaptation there are by many orders of magnitude.
mindcrime 14y ago
Also, this is something where governments also need to step up and educate. No, no, a million times NO. At least in the US, the government already "educates" people about nutrition, and most of what they're pimping is horrible, horrible advice. I don't want some agency stealing my money, and then using it to teach me shit that's ultimately killing me.
roc 14y ago
I'd rather the role of government in correcting society-wide problems caused by hidden costs be simply ensuring those costs are properly accounted for up-front. e.g. You don't stop industrial pollution by educating Americans to not buy products that were created by factories that pollute. You stop industrial pollution by enforcing reasonably safe waste disposal methods, so those costs are reflected customer-facing prices. (And thereby also encouraging free market advances in disposal and production technologies.) So why would you try to combat an obesity epidemic by attempting to educate people to not buy sugars? You simply identify the problems ('cheap' sugars in processed foods, huge portions) and ensure the costs are reflected up-front in the price (yes, a sin-tax on junk food and absurd portions). Or, at the very least, stop government subsidies for the production and use of things that we know are contributing to the problem. (cheap corn->cheap HFCS->cheap sugar in everything)

freehunter 14y ago

The fact that this is just now becoming a global problem indicates that perhaps there is a problem to be solved here beyond education. Mankind (and our pets) did not evolve to live the lifestyle we're living. Sitting at a computer all day, driving home, then sitting at a TV all night. Changing diet is fine and it works well for some. Others might not have such as easy time of it. I don't know what the solution to the problem is. But if you do, you will be rich. Something has to change, globally: either our lifestyle or our bodily engineering. And changing lifestyles is not an easy thing to do.

Avshalom 14y ago
>did not evolve to live the lifestyle we're living evolution didn't magically stop.
- TeMPOraL 14y ago
  But then it won't fix it sooner than in 10 000 years. Technological progress (and life style changes that follow it) has outpaced whatever biological processes of adaptation there are by many orders of magnitude.

mindcrime 14y ago

Also, this is something where governments also need to step up and educate. No, no, a million times NO. At least in the US, the government already "educates" people about nutrition, and most of what they're pimping is horrible, horrible advice. I don't want some agency stealing my money, and then using it to teach me shit that's ultimately killing me.

roc 14y ago

I'd rather the role of government in correcting society-wide problems caused by hidden costs be simply ensuring those costs are properly accounted for up-front. e.g. You don't stop industrial pollution by educating Americans to not buy products that were created by factories that pollute. You stop industrial pollution by enforcing reasonably safe waste disposal methods, so those costs are reflected customer-facing prices. (And thereby also encouraging free market advances in disposal and production technologies.) So why would you try to combat an obesity epidemic by attempting to educate people to not buy sugars? You simply identify the problems ('cheap' sugars in processed foods, huge portions) and ensure the costs are reflected up-front in the price (yes, a sin-tax on junk food and absurd portions). Or, at the very least, stop government subsidies for the production and use of things that we know are contributing to the problem. (cheap corn->cheap HFCS->cheap sugar in everything)