The Fattening of America

The Fattening of America
Is obesity a problem that deserves our attention? SARS and antibiotic-resistant viruses may be grabbing headlines now, but common obesity may be the underlying cause of most deaths and diseases in this century. Obesity attributes to a variety of diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, and respiratory problems. According to Dr. Scott Grundy, who is the director of the center for Human Nutrition, "The complications of obesity are not as dramatic as other infectious diseases, but these complications will affect more people and will demand more long-term care."
Society has blamed obesity on the individual. We assume that people are overweight because they are lazy and weak. Obesity has increased dramatically since 1980, so can we explain the increase because we have less willpower than we did twenty three years ago. People evolved in an environment where food was scarce. Under these conditions people ate high-cal...