Opinion: The great fat debate

The fundamental strategy of the war on fat is to universalize the attitudes of middle- and upper-class white American women toward weight, food, dieting and exercise. Such women are taught from a very early age to hate their bodies, to be terrified of fat and to turn eating into an endless moralistic struggle between the imperative to eat appropriately petite portions of supposedly “good” foods while avoiding the quasi-erotic seductions of “bad” foods. [...] Needless to say, both diet companies and obesity researchers are doing their best to change this unacceptable situation. Thus we have researchers advocating “the development of culturally sensitive public health intervention programs ... to encourage black youth to achieve a healthy and reasonable (sic) body size.” Translation: Let’s make black and brown girls feel as bad about their bodies as we’ve managed to make the average white girl feel about hers.

One myth rises above all others. It affects public opinion about what drives America’s diet, how politicians respond to increasing obesity, what we permit of the food industry, and the health of the nation. It is captured in two words -- personal responsibility -- and relies on several assumptions: a) adverse changes in the nation’s diet and exercise result from irresponsible behavior; b) there is no social or corporate responsibility; and c) people who suffer from problems such as diabetes bring it on themselves. The myth has strong, well-funded and politically powerful proponents, most notably the food industry, its trade associations and political figures influenced by industry lobbyists.