Here, Jonathan Engel reviews the sources of and the science behind our modern propensity toward obesity. He offers a plan for helping address the problem, but admits that it is, indeed, an uphill battle. And, still, one worth fighting. The diet and weight-loss industry is worth $66 billion - billion!! The estimated annual health care costs of obesity-related illness are 190 billion or nearly 21% of annual medical spending in the United States. But how did we get here? Is this a battle we can't win? What changes need to be made in order to scale back the incidence of obesity in the US, and, indeed, around the world? Here, Jonathan Engel reviews the sources of the problem and offers the science behind our modern propensity toward obesity. He offers a plan for helping address the problem, but admits that it is, indeed, an uphill battle. Nevertheless, given the magnitude of the costs in years of life and vigour lost, it is a battle worth fighting. Fat Nation is a social history of obesity in the United States since the second World War. In confronting this familiar topic from a historical perspective, Jonathan Engel attempts to show that obesity is a symptom of complex changes that have transpired over the past half century to our food, our living habits, our life patterns, our built environments, and our social interactions. He offers readers solid grounding in the known science underlying obesity (genetic set points, complex endocrine feedback loops, neurochemical messengering) but then makes the novel argument that obesity is a result of the interaction of our genes with our environment. That is, our bodies have always been programmed to become obese, but until recently never had the opportunity to do so. Now, with cheap calories ubiquitous (particularly in the form of sucrose), unwalkable physical spaces, deteriorating rituals and norms surrounding eating, and the withering of cooking skills, nearly every American daily confronts the challenge of not putting on weight. Given the outcomes, though, for those who are obese, Engel encourages us to address the problems and offers suggestions to help remedy the problem

Engel, Jonathan, author

Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Incorporated

Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield

United States, United States of America

1, 2018

Obscured text on back cover due to sticker attached.

1 online resource (v, 209 pages) :
The estimated annual health care cost of obesity-related illness in the United States is 190 billion, with countless more costs in lost mobility, vigor, and life-years. Here, Jonathan Engel reviews the sources of the problem as they have developed over the past 70 years and offers a realistic plan for helping address obesity
Includes bibliographical references and index
An old problem -- Whence cometh fat? -- The unwalkable landscape -- Changing lives -- Changing food/changing meals -- Addicted to food -- Finding the off switch -- Exercise, drugs, and surgery -- Self control -- Disparate impacts -- What is to be done?
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on February 14, 2019)

2023-06-28