waste contributes a little to the warming of the atmosphere. Multiply the energy use of a single person by a few billion people—that is the source of global warming. If we all reduced our behaviors that require energy consumption by just a small percentage, we could stem global warming. We could spend less time indoors (reducing air-conditioning and heating costs), travel more by walking or bicycle (driving our cars less), and eat less red meat and dairy products (reducing methane gas production). As a result, we would also get more exercise, burn more calories, and be less likely to gain weight and develop chronic diseases. Fortunately, taking steps to improve our health will also help protect our planet.
6. Shouldn’t people be free to make their own decisions?
People’s decisions are constrained by what is available, and people are vulnerable to a wide variety of framing effects, including prominence, position, and pricing. Change any one of these things and people’s decisions will change.
Who controls how food is presented? Right now corporate America manipulates all the factors that guide people toward making choices that increase their risks for chronic diseases. The elements that influence people’s choices should be made transparent so our decisions can be thoughtful and deliberate rather than the consequence of manipulation.
We accept a host of regulations that were created to protect people, including regulations about hygiene and safety that force restaurants to follow standard procedures in preparing, storing, and serving food. We accept regulations that force architects and contractors to build according to standards that govern construction and safety measures. We accept regulations that limit the sale of alcohol to licensedoutlets at certain hours and in standard portions. We accept and appreciate regulations that keep our air and water clean and safe. Many of us depend on regulations that protect workers and specify safe working conditions, minimum wages, and overtime. Regulations are generally intended to protect people from situations where they have a limited capacity to protect themselves. Regulations can also make the consequences of our choices transparent at the time we are making decisions.
While some regulations can go too far and make every task unnecessarily onerous, most regulations that have stood the test of time have made life more predictable and living conditions safer. If we can be confident that our air, water, and shelters are safe, we will have the time and ability to focus our energies on activities beyond the basics of survival. Today we lack sufficient regulations that would help people make safer food choices. Regulations that govern how food is sold and served could protect us from being manipulated and undermined and reduce our exposure to foods that increase the risks of chronic diseases.
Regulations don’t stop people from making their own decisions. Setting uniform standards makes it easier for people to make informed choices and protects us from relying on automatic, impulsive choices that compromise our health. People would still have the freedom to choose an unhealthy diet, but they would know that the choice was theirs rather than a consequence of an unregulated environment.
7. Why is regulation a reasonable approach to stop the epidemic?
Regulations have been effective in limiting alcohol-related harm and in reducing tobacco use. The regulations we have in place for alcohol are good models for potentially controlling obesity. Although the alcohol industry might like to see people drinking alcohol all day long in large quantities, most of us accept the legal limitations on alcohol availability and consumption as necessary to prevent too many people from becoming drunk and harming themselves and others. How many people think we should sell alcohol from vending machines, display it at every cash register from bookstores to hardware stores, serve it at meetings at
6. Shouldn’t people be free to make their own decisions?
People’s decisions are constrained by what is available, and people are vulnerable to a wide variety of framing effects, including prominence, position, and pricing. Change any one of these things and people’s decisions will change.
Who controls how food is presented? Right now corporate America manipulates all the factors that guide people toward making choices that increase their risks for chronic diseases. The elements that influence people’s choices should be made transparent so our decisions can be thoughtful and deliberate rather than the consequence of manipulation.
We accept a host of regulations that were created to protect people, including regulations about hygiene and safety that force restaurants to follow standard procedures in preparing, storing, and serving food. We accept regulations that force architects and contractors to build according to standards that govern construction and safety measures. We accept regulations that limit the sale of alcohol to licensedoutlets at certain hours and in standard portions. We accept and appreciate regulations that keep our air and water clean and safe. Many of us depend on regulations that protect workers and specify safe working conditions, minimum wages, and overtime. Regulations are generally intended to protect people from situations where they have a limited capacity to protect themselves. Regulations can also make the consequences of our choices transparent at the time we are making decisions.
While some regulations can go too far and make every task unnecessarily onerous, most regulations that have stood the test of time have made life more predictable and living conditions safer. If we can be confident that our air, water, and shelters are safe, we will have the time and ability to focus our energies on activities beyond the basics of survival. Today we lack sufficient regulations that would help people make safer food choices. Regulations that govern how food is sold and served could protect us from being manipulated and undermined and reduce our exposure to foods that increase the risks of chronic diseases.
Regulations don’t stop people from making their own decisions. Setting uniform standards makes it easier for people to make informed choices and protects us from relying on automatic, impulsive choices that compromise our health. People would still have the freedom to choose an unhealthy diet, but they would know that the choice was theirs rather than a consequence of an unregulated environment.
7. Why is regulation a reasonable approach to stop the epidemic?
Regulations have been effective in limiting alcohol-related harm and in reducing tobacco use. The regulations we have in place for alcohol are good models for potentially controlling obesity. Although the alcohol industry might like to see people drinking alcohol all day long in large quantities, most of us accept the legal limitations on alcohol availability and consumption as necessary to prevent too many people from becoming drunk and harming themselves and others. How many people think we should sell alcohol from vending machines, display it at every cash register from bookstores to hardware stores, serve it at meetings at
Similar Books
