The Body Politic

Is increased regulation the best way to tackle obesity and eating disorders?

By Barbara Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Apr 29, 2008 | Updated: 4:21 p.m. ET Apr 29, 2008

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Discuss

Posted By: wellsphere @ 05/07/2008 1:57:20 PM

Comment: I think it's a great idea for restaurants to post info. It's even harder to eat well when eating out, especially when you have dietary needs or want to watch your calorie intake. Often food items that seem healthy and are marketed that way, are not. For this reason, my company just launched a new service called ???Wellternatives??? that lets people find nutrition info for thousands of chain restaurants ??? right from their cell phone or on the web. It also makes recommendations for a healthier alternative to your favorite restaurant meals, hence the name???Wellternatives. Would love to hear what you think of it! Sara
Posted By: Terrils @ 04/30/2008 5:35:04 PM

Comment: "In fact, being too ... fat is the result of a complex set of social and personal factors"

Hm. Here I thought that for most of us it was simply eating too much and not moving enough. But I bet there's a slew of books out there to help me navigate this "complex" set of factors ... even though most of them seem to ultimately suggest eating less and moving more.
Posted By: skinnyminny2 @ 04/30/2008 10:50:39 AM

Comment: You cannot make an anorexic change her weight without treatment. Anorexia is a serious mental disease, and no amount of regulation will fix that. The thing about anorexia is that it's about a lot more than food and body image--it just manifests itself as an obsession over restrictive eating. I've been livng with anorexia and it's more about control and self-worth--the anorexic mind is very complex. It seems government does not understand this. Skinny models simply validate our disorder, they do not typically cause it.

As far as obesity goes, in my opinion it is not a mental illness as anorexia is but rather a combination of not wanting to eat healthy and lack of education on how to. Eating better requires COOKING and planning, and I suppose it's much easier for some people to pop open a box or buy pre-made garbage. Sadly, I have heard of food pantries having to throw away much of their fresh produce because no one wants it. People complain about the cost of fresh stuff and when it's offered to them, they take the SPAM instead.

Eating healthy is NOT as expensive as people think--I just bought some bags of frozen veggies for 89 cents a bag and found dry bean soups for just $1 a bag with 8 servings. People do need this information, but what they chose to do with it is ultimately on them.
Posted By: burbank @ 04/29/2008 9:39:49 PM

Comment: Education is one of the most important factors in learing how to maintain a healthy lifestyle that will help an individual control his/her weight. However, no amount of regulation be it local, state, or government will ever be able to control the most important factor in determining individual health and weight loss goals. And that factor is personal choice.