Fast-food culture serves up super-size Americans

Stop blaming people or their genesits an abundance of unhealthy, heavily advertised, low-cost food that underlies the nations obesity crisis.

y ridget !urray American "sychological Association Monitor Staff #ecember $%%&, 'ol ($, )o. && America is overloo*ing the real cause of its ever-e+panding waistline, said ,elly rownell, "h#, at A"A-s $%%& Annual .onvention. /he problem isn-t so much people-s lac* of self-control, he said. 0t-s a 1to+ic food environment1--the strips of fast-food restaurants along America-s roadways, the barrage of burger advertising on television and the rows of candies at the chec*out counter of any given convenience store. 12hoever thought you could go eat at a gas station31 said rownell, a 4ale 5niversity psychology professor, adding that, with a new concept being test-mar*eted, 12hile you-re pumping your gas you punch in the Fritos, the /win*ies and the .o*e, and somebody brings it to your car. So the physical activity re6uired to go in and get it is eliminated.1 /o be sure, rownell ac*nowledged, genes and self-control play a role in obesity and the diabetes and other health problems that result. ut, in his view, both face a losing battle against the ubi6uity of bad food. /he problem with medical and psychological interventions for individuals, he said, is that the costs of treatment outweigh the benefits, and weight-gain relapse rates remain high. 2hat-s needed instead, he said, are broader-scale policy fi+es that promote healthier foods and behaviors across American society. 10t-s important for us to loo* at this from a public health point-of-view, where we-re not so concerned with how overweight an individual is, but how overweight the population is,1 said rownell. 17enetics is what permits the problem to occur, but environment is what drives it.1 8f particular concern to rownell is America-s passive acceptance of unhealthy food. Americans fail to recognize, for e+ample, the possible damage done by such fast-food icons as 9onald !c#onald. 12e ta*e :oe .amel off the billboard because it is mar*eting bad products to our children, but 9onald !c#onald is considered cute,1 said rownell. 1;ow different are they in their impact, in what they-re trying to get *ids to do31 .ertain 1to+ic signs1 alarm rownell<

Unnutritious foods reign. ;igh-fat, high-sugar foods are widely available, taste good and cost less than healthier foods. 'ending machines are ubi6uitous, ,entuc*y Fried .hic*en delivers and most fast-food outlets now serve brea*fast. 1.ould there be a better fat-delivery vehicle than a bacon-egg-and-cheese muffin31 said rownell. Serving sizes keep increasing. uffets abound and food outlets offer 1value meals,1 providing more food for less cost. =>leven-s #ouble 7ulp serves up ?@ ounces of soda, and 1!c#onald-s has made -super-size it- a verb.1 The food industry has run amok. Advertisements for prepac*aged and fast foods saturate the airwaves, newspapers and magazines. .olorfully pac*aged single-person servings ma*e processed foods appealing. Physical activity has declined. !ost Americans get less e+ercise than ever--wal*ing less and driving more.

As further evidence that environment is to blame, rownell noted that obesity has risen notably in other countries, including .hina, and that migrants to 2estern countries have much higher obesity rates than their relatives bac* home. "articularly vulnerable to the problem are American children, said rownell. Soda companies and fast-food outlets increasingly in* contracts with schools and gear advertising to *ids. 1/he most intrepid parents can-t win this fight,1 he said. /hat is, they can-t win it alone. ut, said rownell, they might stand a chance through the following proposed policy changes< !a*e activity more accessible, by, for e+ample, building communities to allow more wal*ing or bi*ing. 9egulate /' food ads aimed at children and mandate e6ual time for pro-nutrition messages. an fast foods and soft drin*s from schools, instead forging school contracts with sports-related companies. 9estructure school lunch programs to include more healthy foods. Subsidize healthy foods and drive down prices of fruits and vegetables by =% percent. #iscourage consumption of poor foods through a 1fat ta+,1 earmar*ing the funds for nutrition and recreation.

rownell believes such measures would ta*e the blame off people with obesity and are the only 1real path to doing something constructive about this problem.1