Is the food industry working for or against the consumer?
While better education and labeling is a good start, the food environment has to change if we are going to keep obesity at bay, said Dr Margo Wootan at the CSPI, who said trying to eat healthily can feel like “swimming upstream” in a culture where junk food is available everywhere, 24:7, from a hardware store to a drugstore.
We’re all grown-ups – and most of us feel we only have ourselves to blame if we are overweight, she said. But when two thirds of the population is unable to maintain a healthy weight, yet at the same time would not choose to be overweight (obesity still carries a social stigma and medical risks, regardless of how ubiquitous it is), you start to wonder whether the odds are stacked against us, she added.
“Of course personal responsibility is important, but it’s time we stopped blaming consumers for everything… even the most disciplined person is bound to lapse from time to time.”