work, allow people to routinely drink on the job, or sell it to children? Limiting the availability of alcohol, drinking on the job, and drinking in publicsettings has helped reduce drunkenness and alcohol-related harm. By and large most Americans will agree that our restrictions on alcohol are reasonable. Restrictions on nonessential, low-nutrient processed foods and on serving sizes that increase the risk of chronic disease could eventually be considered as acceptable as alcohol regulations, especially if they help people moderate their consumption.
8. Can’t we educate people to make better choices?
Lack of education is not the main reason why people eat too much. Most people already know they need to eat less to lose weight, and that they should avoid foods like candy, cake, cookies, and chips. The problem is that people’s choices are highly influenced by the environment. Usually people fail to recognize how they are influenced by merely seeing tempting products or by viewing others’ behaviors. Lack of insight is a key barrier to making better choices. Unfortunately, because we often lack the capacity to recognize the triggers of our behaviors, it may not be possible to train everybody to overcome environmental barriers to a healthy diet.
9. Doesn’t the food industry just give people what they want?
What people “really” want depends on how goods are presented. If hamburgers were marketed as being disproportionately responsible for global warming and for increasing the risk of cancer and heart disease, rather than as mouth-watering, delicious, and satisfying, fewer people would “really” want them. Our tastes and preferences largely depend on culture, availability, and marketing. Our preferences change all the time. Take sushi, for example—it was practically unheard of thirty years ago, and now it is quite popular in the United States.
10. Are people too stupid to make their own choices?
People are not stupid, but they are also not robots that can make wonderful and optimal decisions twenty-four hours a day, especially when they are exhausted, work two jobs, are trying to raise a family and make ends meet. We are not perfect. Everyone has his or her limits. In addition, marketing methods influence people in ways they cannoteasily recognize. A society that allows food marketers to push at our limits and undermine us all the time is not helping most of us.
The kinds of regulations I am advocating do not remove individual choice. They increase transparency so that people will be able to make decisions deliberately, not automatically. Regulations can protect people from strategies that influence them without their awareness, like priming and conditioning.
11. Aren’t there effective solutions to the obesity epidemic other than creating more regulations?
So far, solutions that leave the problem to individuals to solve by themselves have not worked. Benign neglect is not benign, as the rates of obesity appear to be worsening for some groups. Although obesity rates are stable for others, we have not seen strong evidence that the prevalence is declining in any populations. As a society we have been reluctant to address the malleable forces that lead to obesity because of the common misperception that most individuals have the capacity to control their own consumption, regardless of the conditions of the food environment. Indeed, many groups prefer not to address the problem at all, and take the “You’re on your own” approach.
Yet if we care about our population and want everyone to be able to enjoy a healthy life free of chronic diseases, we need to make a normal, healthy weight attainable for the majority. We should not be unrealistic about what most people are capable of when the food environment is constantly tempting us. As long as we allow foods to be promoted and served in a way that routinely puts patrons at risk, most of us will not be able to defend ourselves. Instead, every day will be a
8. Can’t we educate people to make better choices?
Lack of education is not the main reason why people eat too much. Most people already know they need to eat less to lose weight, and that they should avoid foods like candy, cake, cookies, and chips. The problem is that people’s choices are highly influenced by the environment. Usually people fail to recognize how they are influenced by merely seeing tempting products or by viewing others’ behaviors. Lack of insight is a key barrier to making better choices. Unfortunately, because we often lack the capacity to recognize the triggers of our behaviors, it may not be possible to train everybody to overcome environmental barriers to a healthy diet.
9. Doesn’t the food industry just give people what they want?
What people “really” want depends on how goods are presented. If hamburgers were marketed as being disproportionately responsible for global warming and for increasing the risk of cancer and heart disease, rather than as mouth-watering, delicious, and satisfying, fewer people would “really” want them. Our tastes and preferences largely depend on culture, availability, and marketing. Our preferences change all the time. Take sushi, for example—it was practically unheard of thirty years ago, and now it is quite popular in the United States.
10. Are people too stupid to make their own choices?
People are not stupid, but they are also not robots that can make wonderful and optimal decisions twenty-four hours a day, especially when they are exhausted, work two jobs, are trying to raise a family and make ends meet. We are not perfect. Everyone has his or her limits. In addition, marketing methods influence people in ways they cannoteasily recognize. A society that allows food marketers to push at our limits and undermine us all the time is not helping most of us.
The kinds of regulations I am advocating do not remove individual choice. They increase transparency so that people will be able to make decisions deliberately, not automatically. Regulations can protect people from strategies that influence them without their awareness, like priming and conditioning.
11. Aren’t there effective solutions to the obesity epidemic other than creating more regulations?
So far, solutions that leave the problem to individuals to solve by themselves have not worked. Benign neglect is not benign, as the rates of obesity appear to be worsening for some groups. Although obesity rates are stable for others, we have not seen strong evidence that the prevalence is declining in any populations. As a society we have been reluctant to address the malleable forces that lead to obesity because of the common misperception that most individuals have the capacity to control their own consumption, regardless of the conditions of the food environment. Indeed, many groups prefer not to address the problem at all, and take the “You’re on your own” approach.
Yet if we care about our population and want everyone to be able to enjoy a healthy life free of chronic diseases, we need to make a normal, healthy weight attainable for the majority. We should not be unrealistic about what most people are capable of when the food environment is constantly tempting us. As long as we allow foods to be promoted and served in a way that routinely puts patrons at risk, most of us will not be able to defend ourselves. Instead, every day will be a
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