"The Impact of Health Education [on Obesity] is Zero"

"Want to end obesity?" asks Philip James of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and President of the International Study for the Study of Obesity. "Then talk to the ministries of finance, not health.

The impact of health education is zero."

Christopher Wanjek of LiveScience's Bad Medicine writes about a meeting of nutrition experts in Rio de Janeiro on how to end the rising global obesity:

The food industry is making us fat, according to James, and efforts to educate the public on proper nutrition or to ask industry to voluntarily reduce unhealthy ingredients such as sugar, salt, fat and myriad additives is "a load of diverting, delaying rubbish," he said. Government-initiated economic policies are needed to make healthy food affordable.

The culprit is "ultraprocessed" food, which are nutrient-poor and calorie-rich, and some experts believe that the cure is government regulation: Link (Photo: Shutterstock)

I think you have to address the issues of culture too when looking at who is to blame for diet. Coca cola ads abund with the statement, 'Coke adds life and everyone needs a bit of life'....'A Mars a day helps you work rest and play'..catchy and memorable...and we are like monkeys and copy behaviour...and parents can't be left out of this equation...as mum's and dad's influence too...economics...yes the poor will say a £1.99 chicken and chips meal is the cheapest way to feed a family...I've seen the results in their lives...'cos some people do this daily...bad...pie ads on tv are trying to make pies look sexy ..interesting isn't it!

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Government regulation fixes everything. That's why we have no murders, robberies, assaults or fraud.

Make sure your knee bends are deep enough.

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Eating healthy foods and engaging in exercise is a personal responsibility. I fear the government with the power to control what I eat or force me to work out.

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I was an obese child (& adult), struggling with my weight all my life. I can remember when I ate school lunches in elementary school, they were processed foods way back when and it has gotten worse since then.
When will we wake up and see the food that is being heavily advertised to us is killing our children and ourselves???!!!
This YouTube documentary (Killer At Large)is from 2008. The US Surgeon General states that obesity is the largest threat in America. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iBHm5zji_Y)
I have taken back my health & life by eating whole foods and taking supplements that support every metabolic function in my body.I never felt better.
I pray that America will wake up and teach our children about the dangers of processed, refined foods, sugar, flour and the dangers of eating an empty nutritious diet. Also, like Jamie Oliver, I wish they would wake up and feed our children healthy food at school so they have a good foundation.
I read a study that our children also have the highest rates of diabetes, high blood pressure & heart problems at a very young age. That are likely to see our children die young.
How sad!

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