Obesity: Maybe it's not ALL your fault

Finally! Something interesting from this crazy community food list-serve I recently signed up for. Andrew Drewnowski contributed a fantastic article to the November 18 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The dual burden of being overweight and undernourished breaks down and explains the issue of obesity in concise terms that make a lot of sense and are pretty hard to argue with (although there are plenty of opinions if you check out the comments).

Drewnowski, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the University of Washington, is a pretty smart guy. I also think it helps that this is his life's work, as the director of the Center for Obesity Research and Nutritional Science Program. Plus, he is a prolific writer of all things edible, cheap and fatty.

In this particular article, Drewnowski dispels three common misconceptions about the American obesity issue:

1. Rising obesity rates are not due to an increasingly toxic food environment, but rather a consequence of a failing economy.
   
2. Obesity and diabetes may have a genetic component, but more importantly they follow a "social gradient"... meaning that economic class is a better indicator of obesity than whether or not your parents were.
   
3. Obesity is not the result of poor choices concerning diet and fitness: "The carefully fostered illusion of freedom of choice disguises the fact that most people have none."

It's pretty standard to blame the obese individual for the fact that they're overweight. People that have financial access to a gym and healthy foods are just lacking education and motivation, right?

Unfortunately, not every obese person is a great candidate for Biggest Loser. In fact, the vast majority of the cast are white, middle class adults. Typical? Maybe not.

As far as kids go, a Time article from June 2008 looks at obesity by demographic (It's Not Just Genetics, 6/12/08):

This [childhood obesity] tsunami, however, is a highly selective one. It discriminates by race: according to the CDC's 2006 figures, 30.7% of white American kids are overweight or obese, compared with 34.9% of blacks and 38% of Mexican Americans. It discriminates by income: 22.4% of 10-to-17-year-olds living below the poverty line--less than $21,200 for a family of four--are overweight or obese, compared with 9.1% of kids whose families earn at least four times that amount.

This is what Drewnowski is talking about. When we talk about obesity and malnutrition as a problem of genetics or "toxic food" or personal choices, we completely miss the bigger picture (and maybe on purpose). Once we're able to admit that obesity and malnutrition are just more consequences of poverty, maybe we'll actually take note of the ROOT of the problem and not just address the various symptoms. I believe thats called "preventative medicine."