The Institute of Medicine released a 478-page study that claims rising obesity levels are not due to personal behavior. Instead, they say that people have no choice since they are surrounded by fat and sugar; although the report does claim that government subsidies for high-fructose corn syrup should not be stopped. That last point was a brilliant piece of political and special interest judo!
I don’t have access to the entire report but the summary in the news basically lays the blame on the food and agriculture industry (despite the fact that the government provides incentives for that same food that we are told we should not be eating).
No where does it apparently say that people who are gaining weight are to blame when they see themselves in the mirror and nothing about that (and by “nothing,” I mean to say, engaging in some kind of daily activity and being conscious of the food they eat and the decisions that they make). Also, the report recommends taxation as a solution for the obesity issue (specifically, a tax on soda).
I had a piece of chocolate today (albeit dark but still it had sugar so I fell of the no-sugar wagon), thankfully my personal choice to eat had absolutely nothing to do with it…it was someone else’s fault.
Thanks for the free pass IOM!
Mondo 