| Why
Americans just keep on getting fatter is a question that
has obsessed health professionals, sociologists and politicians
for decades.
David Cutler, Edward Glaeser and Jesse Shapiro from the
Institute of Economic Research at Harvard University, have
mined almost a century's-worth of nutritional data in a
hunt for lessons.
According to their survey, the real culprit
is not sluggish lifestyles or even fatty food, but technology.
As technological advances have made food ever more varied
and convenient, the authors argue, the feeble will-power
of the American public has been unable to compete.
Big problem
Almost all the rich world is struggling with bulging waistbands,
but America is something special.
Increased calorie consumption can,
of course, be a function of increasing wealth, and the average
American swelled during the 20th century as result.
The average calorie intake rose by about 10 % between the mid 1970s
and the mid 1990s.
Now, according to some calculations, close to one-third
of Americans are clinically obese - about
50% more than even the chubbiest equivalent country.
Old ideas
It finds no evidence for one popular argument - that American
portions are getting bigger.
Instead, the authors say, Americans are not eating more,
just more often.
Many hands make light work
The culprit seems to be the division of labour.
In the mid-1960s, the average American non-working woman
spent at least two hours a day on the family meals - now,
that figure has halved.
At the same time, manufacturers of food have
invested heavily in making their products tastier, cheaper,
more varied and more convenient for the consumer.
This has provoked a shift to frequent 'grazing ' - small but cumulatively hefty snacks,
as opposed to regular meals.
Too tempting
This conclusion may not seem earth-shattering, but it has
serious implications for policy makers.
First, it could shift the burden of guilt towards producers
of food.
Dismal science
Second, it undermines one of the basic tenets of economics
- that increases in convenience and efficiency represent
an unequivocal benefit for
society.
The fact that Americans spend some $50 bn annually on diet remedies
shows that they can hardly be happy with the status quo.
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