Product Description
In The Fattening of America, renowned health economist Eric Finkelstein, along with business writer Laurie Zuckerman, reveal how the U.S. economy has become the driving force behind our expanding waistlines. Blending theory, research, and engaging personal anecdotes the authors discuss how declining food costs—especially for high-calorie, low-nutrient foods—and an increasing usage of technology, which make Americans more sedentary, has essentially led us to eat more calories than we burn off.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 67 reviews)

Very economic minded take on the current rise in obesity.

This book basically tries to explain how the sudden and recent rise of obesity in America is based on free-market economics. The argument being that fattening, tasty, and quick food happens to be cheaper and easier than making a meal at home or choosing healthier options. People who eat these types of foods are just doing so because these foods provide them with the most utility, either money-wise, time-wise, or both. Additionally, our increased automation in our jobs and private lives has decreased our calories burned. So while cheap fattening foods are easier to come by, exercise and recreation is more difficult to find, and find time for. A double whammy.

Various solutions are discussed, whether it's government intervention or private entrepreneurs getting involved in the fix. The author discusses, correctly I feel, that the government will not have much success changing the habits of adults, and indeed, should not do so. The primary focus of the government should be in teaching this nation's youth better habits. If the free market comes to task and introduces a pill or some other breakthrough device, or even a bunch of small products that make little differences all the better.

The book could be helpful for a business owner as it brings up various arguments for wellness programs. There is a chapter at the end that discusses the author's weight loss techniques, but this is not a weight loss book, and the author makes that clear.

I found the writing style to be easy to digest (no pun intended) and upbeat, with a few jokes thrown in for good measure.

My biggest problem with the book was that it did not give me any new information. Most of the facts have been heard before. Additionally the book could have lost about 50 pages and have been none the worse for it. It began to feel repetitious.

All in all... A moderately interesting read that brings nothing new to the table for the average Joe, although it may be more interesting for those interested in economics especially.
October 06, 2008

interesting take on economic causes of obesity

This book is an interesting economic take on a public health issue. Finkelstein outlines some economic causes of obesity, including the lower cost and higher supply of unhealthy high-calorie foods, the lowered daily activity levels of the average information worker, the perceived utility of a lifestyle of eating a lot and exercising little. These are all excellent points, though I wish he had delved more into the rise of factory farming and its effect on the American food supply. For more information on this, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals is a great read.

Next he outlines other factors that have been considered as causes of obesity, like genetic predisposition, family living style, the "moral hazard" of health insurance, government policy, public school management, etc. These are all interesting ideas, but are weakened by the fact that they are hard to test empirically, and studies on them often lack control cases. The strongest thing he can say on most of these theories is that there *might* be some correlation between them and obesity, but as we should remember: correlation does not imply causation.

I agree with the author's goal: we should all eat healthier and exercise more, and be more aware of the long term health effects of our short term actions. But the author's tone sometimes takes away from the strength of his arguments. He carries character portraits of "fat Uncle Al" and "poor Cousin Carl" throughout the book to help tie his points together and perhaps connect with his readers, but his description of these characters often seems superficial, forced, and a bit harsh. His examples are also a bit unpolished and unprofessional. In the beginning of the Moral Hazard chapter he describes a friend boasting about having unprotected relations with the head of a local Planned Parenthood chapter. In the lifestyle utility chapter he imagines telling his wife he has quit his job to work in a berry patch and "God forbid, you might have to get a job!" I suspect this kind of tone is a little too brazen and disrespectful to appeal to most readers. But maybe that's been cleaned up in the latest version of the book (I'm reading an advance uncorrected copy).

But, overall it's an interesting book, worth a perusal, especially if you like pop public health.
September 12, 2008

Interesting Thoughts ... don't quite agree... but interesting

Written from an economists point of view, I knew the information contained in this book would lean more toward the political rather than the dietary. What I found was that not only was this book very well balanced (even though I strongly disagree with a few of the author's political points regarding McCain's health care policies), it made sense if you look at obesity, health, and weight loss as a cost vs. time issue. That it made economic sense for certain segments of the population to be heavier, even as it is economics that make invidiuals living below the poverty level to be fatter.

I thought the author used direct, easy to understand language, and as someone who has been intimiately involved in obesity and weight loss (at one point I lost over 90 lbs on Weight Watchers) thought that in light of today's economic situation everything made sense. The problem was, the author doesn't offer any ways of fixing it. We can either continue in the same economic vein and watch our poorer individuals get less healthy because of the rising cost of food or we can make changes looking at things realisticly in determining the scope of our national health.

If you're interested in learning more about the economics behind weight loss and the weight loss industry, this is a fascinating book. If you're looking for answers, sadly you'll have to come up with those for yourself.
August 21, 2008

A different take on obesity issues...

This book brings up the age old questions: Why are we gaining weight and what can be done about it? But, this is not a diet book. This is a book that has tracked the history of our economy, and show us what went wrong in our diets.

Finklestein believes that some economists think that obesity "may not be a problem worth fighting for." Maybe the problem has become bigger than we can handle. Like many other books have stated, people are eating out too much, eating cheap, processed food in packages, exercising less, and using more technology. This is causing us to gain weight. Not only are the citizens of the United States are gaining, but so are those in Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Australia, and even the Al Qaeda terrorists in Guantanamo Bay! "The average weight gain for these prisoners has been 18 pounds since the camp opened in 2002."

The author also says that our weight gain is also caused by our medications, (we are ingesting now more than ever) our sleep habits, (sleeping less causes a rise in appetite and slower metabolism) our air conditioner, pollution, but especially the economy. More of us are eating cheap foods, and lots of it.

For every chapter, the author provides some possible solutions. For example, in the chapter about children, he states that we should bring back Physical Education at least three times a week and limit TV and computer use, (along with commercial ads). In the chapter about the workplace, he suggests using incentives (some companies already do) to get workers to lose weight. (Too much weight gain may cause more absenteeism and medical procedures that some employers may have to pay for.) The last chapter tells you how to lose weight like an economist, such as: set long term weight and exercise goals, make your goals public, so it's harder to change your mind, measure and document, and something that I have wanted to do: buy a pedometer, that logs your steps. Apparently, Amish people take from 14,000 to 17,000 steps a day, when our recommendation as Americans is to take only 10,000 steps a day, and many of us take way less than that.

I decided to read this book because I'm always interested in health issues today. I read it even though I knew that many of the "economic issues" may not be of interest to me. But, even though he said things that many other books have said before, I admire that the author tried to have a different take on it. It held my attention, and was entertaining at times, because the author has a good sense of humor. He has done a lot of research for this book, with many graphs (for all of you visual thinkers.) Read it, if not only to be inspired to find healthier ways to live today, even though you may have to work harder and fight the larger issues that are going against you and making it more difficult in the process.
July 03, 2008

Superpower supersizing...what can be done?

CDC figures show an increase from about 4 percent of 6-11 year old kids verweight circa 1973 to around 19 percent in 2003 and their 2-5 year old siblings have an almost 14 percent obesity rate.(P.4) How did we get to this place...and how do we change course?

Authors Finkelstein and Zuckerman basically offer a 4 pronged litany of causes: "Junk" food costs less than healthier alternatives (they cite subsidies for corn used to make "high fructose corn syrup" as one example), technology has made our work less strenuous so we aren't guaranteed a mild workout at the shop, our moves to the 'burbs mean more time commuting which means more time spent sedentarily, too many free-time choices compete with the treadmill, and availability of health insurance may mean we figure the health problems that come with the bulges can be absolved via a pill or a quick "procedure".

For the "if it matters" part of the title, they offer not only the health implications of being overweight but also the social/economic ones: they suggest reducing obesity would drop Medicare/Medicaid costs by $90 billion annually (P.93), the GDP costs (significantly obese people use more sick time, P. 95, and may also have poorer cognition, P.96), and the economic costs to the obese themselves (lower wages, p.97, particularly for women).

Where the book comes up shortest is in the "What to Do About It" department. They specifically address mandatory nutritional labelling on restaurant menus (P. 140), lawsuits against energy-dense foodmakers ("McLawsuits", P. 142-147) and a "fat tax" on junk foods to offset Medicare/Medicaid obesity costs and to discourage their consumption by raising their cost to levels closer to healthier fruits/vegetables/etc. (P.147-151) They do a good job of showing the inadequacies of those approaches. However, they have a fairly weak case for improving things that more or less boils down to: raise prices on junk food and subsidize healthy food with the difference. While some will switch to the "good stuff" if prices are better, many will stay with the junk since it "tastes better" as Finkelstein and Zuckerman oft remind us.

BOTTOM LINE:
The best thing this book may do is remind you (again) as it did me of the health risks of my having too much weight (about 80 over my ideal as I write this). It's a reasonably easy read with plenty of research data (and footnoted sources if you want to read all the primary sources) on its side. It may however leave you with the unintended feeling that the growth (no pun intended) in obesity is unavoidable.
May 29, 2008

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
by Michael Pollan

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
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Fat Politics: The Real Story behind America's Obesity Epidemic
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Health Care Economics (Delmar Series in Health Services Administration)
by Paul J. Feldstein

Death by Supermarket: The Fattening, Dumbing Down, and Poisoning of America
by Nancy Deville