In my previous two posts, I discussed appetite and metabolism. This post will focus on the many ways the typical American environment is weight-promoting. Changes in our daily lives, occupations, neighborhood walkability, and food supply all contribute to the increasing rate of obesity.
Our food supply
We have long suspected that there is something amiss with our food supply. Incoming DHHS Secretary RFK Jr has vowed to “clean up” our food systems to improve American health. Some of his statements and beliefs do not have evidence to support their claims. However, we know of multiple other aspects of our food supply that contribute to obesity.
Important problems with our food chains:
- Our food is not produced locally. Most of the food that we eat is grown and processed away from where we live. Some people still garden, but typically do not have enough to meet all of their nutritional needs. The land and feed required to raise meat animals is expensive and beyond the reach of many people. Local farmers’ markets also do not typically have the scale of food needed to sustain a community.
- Our food has become significantly more processed.
- Highly processed, highly palatable food directly triggers the reward appetite pathway. This causes significant problems with appetite regulation.
- There are a lot of additives in our food that have unknown long-term effects and are not allowed in other parts of the world.
- Fresh, unprocessed food costs substantially more than shelf-stable and processed foods.
- Restaurant portions have steadily increased over the past half-century.
Banning processed foods and all additives or transitioning entirely to organic food is not feasible. For one, organic and whole foods are significantly more expensive and without increasing food subsidies there will be significant food insecurities. Organic farming by its very nature is also not sustainable at the large scale–it requires more land and increases farmland fatigue. Additionally, organic farming can be very hard on animals because of restrictions on important and humane treatments like antibiotics for sick animals. There is no easy answer to our food supply’s issues and in the meantime it continues to make us sick.
Decreasing daily activity
The daily life of a person in America is very different now than it was even 70 to 80 years ago. Modern conveniences, electronics, and appliances have made the daily needs of living much less labor-intensive. It is easier to do laundry, keep the house clean, do yardwork. There is certiainly nothing wrong with this. The problem arises when we don’t replace the activity humans always needed to do just to meet their basic needs.
Additionally, our jobs have become increasingly sedentary. Historically, most people engaged in jobs that required substantial manual labor. The exact work may have changed–leaning away from agriculture towards manufacturing and mining as the industrial revolution progressed–but work was much more physical than it is today. This means that our bodies don’t wear out as easily as they used to, but it also means that we have lost an important source of activity.
Again, I must emphasize that there is nothing wrong with enjoying modern amenities and employment that does not involve backbreaking labor. However, we have not replaced this activity with other forms of exercise and as a result get much less movement and burn much fewer calories than was the norm for thousands of years.
Changes in our community’s environment
Our communities do not lend themselves to movement. In America, car culture has made it so that walking places is impossible in most areas around the country. Lack of sidewalks and safe walking paths requires car trips over even short distances. For instance, I am “only” 1.5 miles away from the nearest convenience store. However, the road has no shoulder or sidewalk for safe walking so I am forced to get into my car for only a mile to safely get to my destination.
In many places, land ownership is also complicated. In West Virginia, absentee land ownership has been a problem for some time. Non-local interests own large tracts of land, taking away woods and other areas that could otherwise be used for outdoor recreation.
Toxic exposures
Countless chemicals and toxins pollute our physical environment. Some of these we definitely understand to be harmful for human health, such as the PFAS found in the Ohio River Valley soil in West Virginia. However, many chemicals have unknown longterm effects on human health. Their effects have simply never been studied. There is increasing concern that these are endocrine disruptors which can lead to obesity. Forever chemicals are ingrained in our watersheds, our soil, and our bodies. They are likely also contributing to the obesity epidemic.
Beyond our appetite regulation system and our metabolism, our environment and changes to our daily lives have also significantly impacted our health and weight.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are accepting public comments on the proposed rule. They need to hear from Americans about how important this rule will be for our health! You can find more information about the proposed rule and tips for submitting a comment at the Obesity Action Coalition’s website, found here.