# Weight of the Nation
## August 31st, 2020
- Alright, watching a 1 hour HBO documentary for class instead of giving a lecture - excellent
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- In 1900, the U.S. started tacking the country's leading causes of death; back then, they were pneumonia, tuberculosis, and diptheria
- Today, though, they've all been replaced by chronic diseases that develop over a long period of time, like heart disease
- The obesity epidemic in the U.S. started taking off massively in the 1980s, and obese people are at additional risk for a significant number of health problems; today, it's considered a factor in half of American deaths
- Currently, 1/3 of America is obese, and another 1/3 are "overweight" (at significant risk of becoming obese)
- Up to 25% of Americans have excess fat in their livers; 40% of deaths have some connection to diabetes (although it's rarely the primary cause)
- According to Dr. Francis Collins, obesity treatment and related health-care costs tally up to ~$150 billion per year; that's expected to double by 2030
- Similarly, obesity-related delays and inefficiencies likely cost U.S. companies ~$70 billion
- For many people, these obesity problems start when they're young and not fully responsible for their personal health; for some, it also has a strong biological component
- As many people have pointed out, for most of human history it was challenging to find food, and our bodies are designed to store food as much as possible and to be attracted to sweet and fatty foods; now, in an age of readily available and cheap food, those same strategies fail us
- The last 100 years have very intentionally industrialized food to make it cheap and appealing; what happened 40 years ago to make obesity an issue, though, are accompanying technological advancements that've taken physical labor out of our lives (elevators, cars, etc.) and that encourage people to stay sedentary (widespread TV and computer usage, etc.)
- 80% of kids today are driven to school, as opposed to the 1960s when 64% of children walked to school
- Almost 55% of our caloric intake (and our spending!) comes from restaurants, which typically serve 2-5 times as much food as needed for a single serving
- Obesity rates are much higher in some communities, especially poor communities and communities of color, with some poor communities having life expectancies of just ~65 years - 10 years lower than the national average
- Why? Poor communities often have less access to safe parks and outdoor areas, and have stores filled with cheap foods (which tend to be sugary and heavily processed)
- A bag of chips might cost only $0.25 in a poor community, for instance, whereas a banana might cost $0.69 for less calories - for poor people, the math just doesn't make sense to be healthy
- "Companies put the most advertising on their products that have the highest margins, and when it comes to food, those products are invariably heavily processed, mass-produced foods and drinks that aren't made for health"
- Average margins for sodas are ~90%, for instance, but just ~10% for fresh produce
- "Because these products make the most money for companies, they're the ones that get made and advertised and sold"
- According to health surveys, the rise in obesity is strongly correlated with a rise in calorie consumption across America - and when examined, those extra calories are primarily coming from added sugars (25%), added fats (especially soy, 25%), and refined grains (50%)
- Indirectly, this has been supplemented by government subsidies to corn and soy farmers, which makes it cheaper to feed cattle and use the items to produce fast food
- Essentially, our farmers are subsidized to overproduce the crops fast-food companies are looking to buy - "the food Americans eat the most is the food that's most profitable, so that's what gets planted"
- Corn and soybeans now make almost 50% of farming, with a large decrease in vegetable and fruit farming - foods that the government subsidizes much less and aren't cost-competitive to grow compared to other things
- "Most farmers don't view what they're making as food, but as a commodity that'll be sold to companies for animal feed or to make high-fructose corn syrup"
- Fresh fruits and vegetables don't lend themselves as well to industrialization; they're harder to ship over long distances, don't stay preserved for as long, etc.
- Encouraging local farming collectives helps drive these costs down, but it's an uphill battle, with a lot of infrastructure (refrigeration trailers, etc.) lacking
- Supermarkets have started investing in some of this, since there is a demand for fruits and vegetables, but if everyone asked for fresh fruits today we'd literally run out - only 2% of U.S. agricultural sales in 2012 were from fresh produce (which is actually an increase from previous years)
- Interestingly, we're spending less on food than ever before while also eating more calories than ever before - and spending more on healthcare than ever before
- Some people argue that by making food cheaper and less healthy, all we've done is shifted those costs to the operating table and hospitals - and so, paradoxically, making food more expensive but healthier could save Americans money in the long run
- A parallel with pollution - "factories didn't realize that what they were doing was bad at first, but when we realized pollution was dangerous, those companies had to clean up their procedures - how is food any different?"
- Just like how the energy industry actually LOSES money when things become more energy efficient, though, the food industry would lose money by making healthier foods to the tune of billions - so they're not exactly rearing at the bit
- At the same time, we have success stories when it comes to reforming tobacco
- A Pepsi executive - "we're not the villains here, we want to be part of the solution and we want to be included in this conversation"
- "Is this the food system we'd design if we were starting from scratch? If not, then we should do better"
- Story about building bike paths and sidewalks in Nashville - with the mayor saying "the government has to help as its proper function; that doesn't negate personal citizen responsibility, but I will use the bully pulpit to encourage all of us to be active"
- Another story about a construction company in Arkansas that was incurring a bunch of healthcare costs due to their employee's weight - as the CEO says, "it was becoming a major factor in our risk-management planning"
- So, the CEO hired a healthcare firm to do a survey of employees, and then instituted a bunch of wellness-encouragement programs
- Similarly, a Latino community near Los Angeles that came together to buy a disused lot and construct a new park in the town
- In poor neighborhoods, where it's difficult to find markets with any fruits at all (since they'd go unbought), the Green Carts program takes mobile food stations to underserved neighborhoods - "it doesn't solve the problem, but it's a start and might galvanize people to notice the issue"
- "Will the solution come from the top-down, or the bottom-up grassroots? People can make a difference if they come together, roll up their sleeves, and take action - that's what this country is known for"
- In short, the weight of the nation is out of control - we won't fix that overnight, but we can - and hopefully will - fix them soon
- *Inspirational yet foreboding ending music to inspire you, the viewer, to take action in your own life*