Monday, March 28, 2011

Taube's article criticizing anti-obesity efforts

     Gary Taubes has authored an article about why he thinks current anti-obesity campaigns are doomed to fail, and mentions what the alternate strategy should be.  This article explains my fundamental opposition to calorie postings, which I've discussed in past blog posts (including the one 5 minutes ago!)

     If you have read his work before, you know what he has to say.  If you have not, then it is a good summary of his conclusions about the causes of obesity.

2 comments:

  1. Curious about the assertion that people equate more calories with a better deal....it could be an interesting study to validate this. However, one persons recoil at a 500 calorie scone, may be another's view of something quite normal. Is the higher calorie count the "new normal" (ref. Radio Lab, NPR) for our expanding appetites?

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  2. I think that assertion was definitely a rationalization rather than a known observation.

    It's important to identify the populations that have been studied. These calorie posting studies have been conducted in poverty stricken areas of New York, NY and Newark, NJ. If a person faces the reality of being unsure if he or she can afford dinner for every night of the week, then I can imagine a 500 calorie scone being more appealing than a smaller one. But if money is not an issue, then people seem to pay a premium for less energy density. Skinny soy lattes anyone?

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