The causes for obesity are fairly self explanatory—too much food in vs too little going out in the form of physical exertion.
So what’s changed over the previous 20-30 years? Well, for starters we have an abundance of labour saving devices—toasters pop up, refrigerators defrost themselves, we get a ride to school, we don’t even need to drag ourselves up from the sofa to change the television station for pete’s sake! Combine that with current trends in Europe and North America to eat a diet of over half the calorie content coming from fat and sugar, and bang—very shortly we’ll all explode!
The term ‘obesogenic environment’ popped up in the 1990s to describe an environment that encourages the overconsumption of energy-dense foods, that is, foods high in fat and sugar. Eating fat has very little effect on suppressing appetite, nor has sweet foods for that matter. And guess what? Fast foods and processed foods are full of fat and sweeteners. How else do you think you could down a hamburger or two, fries, soft drink and still have room for a desert? For some, an average fast food meal uses up, 100% of their daily calorie requirement. It is little wonder we are getting fat.
In the World Health Organization’s report on Globalization, Diets and Non-communicable diseases, it explains how evidence from research shows the obesogenic environment can be challenged through public health education, labelling and price manipulation. Norway and Finland have each been successful in reversing the trend to eat energy dense diets, which in turn has seen fewer deaths from heart disease. This was done in part by regulating food processing/labelling; ensuring low prices for grains, low fat milk, vegetables and potatoes; avoiding low cost sugar, butter and margarine, and public and professional education.
A lesson to be learnt from the Norwegians and Finns, surely?
www.weightconcern.org.uk