Emerging research indicates that exposure to many different materials in our food supply and our environment can impact nutritional status and weight gain. Given the high costs associated with obesity, and the relationship between individual choice and wellness, should the government 'regulate' our consumption to reduce obesity by limiting exposure to a high fat, high sugar diet that includes known obesogens?
Consumers have to navigate the conflicting messages of Big Food marketing and misinformation everyday. How can they be sure that they are making the best individual choices for their well-being? It's not like public health experts have the resources to counteract the Food Industry's billion-dollar marketing budget to provide balance. Regulation is needed to protect consumers, in my opinion.
Lisa has highlighted one of the bigger challenges that we face in regulating the food industry, which is the vast power and reach that Big Food has in shaping not only public consumption (what we put in our mouths) but also public discourse (what we believe about the causes and consequences of obesity). This discourse undermines public health messaging in the same way that tobacco companies did previously to prevent bans on smoking. It promotes the mantra that regulation will limit individual choice and freedom. More concerning, Big Food has situated itself as part of the solution and actively seeks out opportunities to further confuse the public, by linking consumption with energy expenditure and suggesting that we can exercise our way out of the obesity epidemic. In reality, consumers don't actually have a great deal of freedom of choice when it comes to food. Big Food controls the food supply and the choices we have, but makes us believe that we have choice (and even chose what they supply), thereby creating consternation when any form of regulation is suggested. On linking food with physical activity, I have attached a paper we wrote a few years ago about the problems with that strategy. I would also recommend that interested readers check out the work of Marion Nestle and Michelle Simon from the US, who have written extensively about the role of food industry. There is another excellent book just out called Lethal and Legal by Nicholas Freudenberg, which examines multiple threats to public health. If we are to successfully challenge the food industry, we need to be more sophisticated in our messaging, and better engage citizens in the public discourse around our food supply.
Article Running away with the facts on food and fatness
The causes of obesity are multifactorial and it is not correct to blame one factor for its cause. Balaban and co-workers provide a good conceptual framework for obesity here: http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/jped/v80n1/en_80n1a04f01.gif Even though individuals also have considerable potential to maintain a healthy weight, there is potential for the government to implement strategies that can be effective in reducing national obesity rates.
Some government interventions, such as introducing a tax on energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods, could reduce consumption whilst generating revenue to support anti-obesity programs. For example, Andreyeva and co-workers calculate that a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could reduce energy consumption within certain assumptions on how the tax would affect demand. Interventions should be carefully designed and piloted before implementing on a wider scale.
While I admit that it is in the food industry's interest to encourage food consumption, it is simplistic to place so much emphasis on Big Food's role in the obesity epidemic. One third of Americans are at a healthy weight despite Big Food's influence, and Big Food is also present in many other countries with lower obesity rates in the USA. I know from having worked with people in the food industry that they are interested in making products that people will buy. They spend considerable resources on researching consumer preferences, and they also welcome feedback about their products. Changes in consumers' wishes drives product development. The government can be used to try to limit the food industry from affecting food and nutrition policy development, or the development of regulations, both of which have been affected by the strong food group lobby with undesirable consequences in some cases. Ultimately, the food industry only impacts on food choice and perhaps some cultural elements of food consumption; there are plenty of other contributors to obesity that individuals, communities, schools, health and nutrition professionals, and local, state and national governments have influence over that should also be considered.
Andreyeva T1, Chaloupka FJ, Brownell KD. Estimating the potential of taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages to reduce consumption and generate revenue. Prev Med. 2011 Jun;52(6):413-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.03.013. Epub 2011 Apr 3.
Balaban, Geni and SILVA, Giselia A. P. Protective effect of breastfeeding against childhood obesity. J. Pediatr. (Rio J.) [online]. 2004, vol.80, n.1 [cited 2014-05-22], pp. 7-16 . Available from: . ISSN 0021-7557. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0021-75572004000100004.
The model that you mean is a model that simplifies the role of the environment in influencing the development of obesity in the population. Definitely public health should focus on building healthy public policy and propose allowing variations in the obesogenic environment . The because there are such high rates of obesity in Mexico and the United States , it is definitely not a product of the neuroendocrine regulation , that is biological myopia , there is an environment of exposing children to unhealthy food , the reward for eating these foods and throughout the food industry reinforces the increased consumption of salt, fat and sugar. We have lessons as the North Karelia Project (Finland ) which shows that modifying the environment through public policy can achieve sustainable results . Individual choice does not exist choose foods that tins familiar with them, we reinforce the environment family, community and the food policies make such food is cheaper , more publicized but not necessarily healthier , before that are more profitable.
Dear All,
When I see fat people and children in large numbers and read the word obesity and at the same time many claim that it is impossible to feed the world, I feel we are wasting food and our life style is a totally mistaken.
Dear All,
There is a simple solution: do not eat so much and have exercise! This is but a question of individual intention. I am afraid if fashion appearance in the media cannot help governmental interventions will not be efficient.
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