obesity (Page 28)

It’s not just happening in the U.S.–people are getting fatter all over the world. Processed foods, which are high in saturated fats, sugar and salt, may be the cause, according to the World Health Organization. Surprisingly, the problem has similar causes in both the West and in developing countries. The rise in single parent households, or families where both parents work, means families rely more on fast foods and frozen foods. In developing countries, increased incomes make these foods affordable, even though they cost more than traditional dishes, which are often time consuming to prepare. The problem is worse in cities, partly because people no longer live near their extended families. In many cultures, the older generation once stayed home and cooked for everyone.
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A drug can probably be developed that will let us eat as much as we want and not gain weight. It will also protect us from type 2 diabetes, which is related to weight gain.

Dr. Ronald Kahn studied mice that were genetically altered to have no insulin receptor in their fat, so they could eat all they wanted and not gain weight. They also lived longer than unaltered mice. Kahn says, ?Since insulin is needed to help fat cells store fat, these animals had less fat and were protected against the obesity that occurs with aging or overeating.”
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Doctors can’t figure out why Americans keep getting fatter, but Harvard economists can. The obesity crisis is the first time the classic economic model has been proved wrong, because in this case, increases in convenience and efficiency haven’t benefited society. Fat people are starting to accuse big food firms of deliberately tempting them to indulge in unhealthy eating. Class action lawyers are expecting big lawsuits in the future against food manufacturers and call food “the new tobacco.”
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Scientists have decided that so much of the human world is becoming fat that this represents a kind of evolution, which can be compared to the basic change in our species that took place 200 years ago which Europeans all became taller, due to improved diets. But while taller people who eat better are healthier, this new evolutionary shift toward obesity makes us less healthy than before. Diabetes and heart problems may become a permanent part of our future as human beings.
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