How Food Companies Have Caused Obesity

Posted by Marion Nestle, Meet the Bloggers at 6:23 AM on November 24, 2008.

As a nutrition professor, I am constantly asked why nutrition advice changes so much and why experts so often disagree.  Whose information, people ask me, can we trust? I’m always tempted to say, “Mine, of course,” but I understand the problem.  Yes, nutrition advice is complicated by scientific arguments, the vested interests of food companies, and compromised government regulations.  But basic dietary advice has been the same for 50 years and is not in dispute.  I summarize it as “eat less; move more; eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains; and avoid too much junk food.”  Michael Pollan says the same thing more succinctly: “Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.”

If dietary advice seems more complicated than that, it is surely because of the effects of rising rates of obesity on food companies.  Food companies must sell products to stay in business; they must promote “eat more.”  But obesity is the most important public health nutrition problem these days, and the solution to obesity is to “eat less.”  This puts public health in conflict with food company business needs. 

America’s obesity rates began to rise sharply in the early 1980s.  Sociologists often attribute the “calories in” side of this trend to the demands of an overworked population for convenience foods--prepared, packaged products and restaurant meals that usually contain more calories than home-cooked meals.

But other social forces also promoted the calorie imbalance. The arrival of the Reagan administration in 1980 increased the pace of industry deregulation, removing controls on agricultural production and encouraging farmers to grow more food.  Calories available per capita in the national food supply (that produced by American farmers, plus imports, less exports) rose from 3,200 a day in 1980 to 3,900 a day two decades later.  This figure is roughly twice the average need of the population.

The early 1980s also marked the advent of the “shareholder value movement” on Wall Street.  Stockholder demands for higher short-term returns on investments forced food companies to expand sales in a marketplace that already contained excessive calories.  Food companies responded by seeking new sales and marketing opportunities.  They encouraged formerly shunned practices that eventually changed social norms, such as frequent between-meal snacking, eating in book and clothing stores, and serving larger portions—all demonstrably effective “eat more” strategies.  No wonder personal responsibility doesn’t work to prevent weight gain.

It is not enough to know what you are supposed to eat.  You also need a food environment that makes it easier for you to make healthier choices.  This means getting involved in political activity to promote a food system that is better for you, the environment, and the community in which you live.  As I wrote in the new edition of my book, Food Politics, we are living in the midst of a new social movement based on promoting a food system that is healthier for people, farm animals, and the environment.  Pick your favorite issue and join the movement!

For more, visit www.whattoeatbook.com. And watch the full episode of Meet the Bloggers with Dr. Nestle at http://meetthebloggers.org/.

Tagged as: nutrition, obesity, food politics, brave new foundation, robert greenwald, huffington post, meet the bloggers, marion nestle, kerry trueman, catherine gund, eating liberally, what to eat