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What Can Government Do About the Obesity Epidemic?

...The most recent scientific evidence suggests that the optimal weight for mortality is what we consider 'overweight' (i.e., a BMI between 25 and 29)." It's easy to see there is no simple fix for the obesity "epidemic." Many of the factors behind obesity are desirable to society: lower rates of smoking, higher standards of living, less expensive foods, and technology that makes food cheap and work easy.

These are indicators of economic development, and most Americans see them as worth carrying a few extra pounds for.

To achieve the goal of making Americans reach an unreasonably low body mass standard, anti-obesity advocates will increasingly have to confront this reality.

Devon M.

Herrick, Ph.D.

(devon.herrick@ncpa.org) is a health economist and senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

For more information ...

Youfa Wang and Tim Lobstein, "Worldwide Trends in Childhood Overweight and Obesity," International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, January 2006, available online at http://www.journalsonline.tandf.co.uk/link.asp?

id=k782hk130760.

Arnold Kling, "Understanding 'Middle-Class Squeeze'," Tech Central Station, August 27, 2004, http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?

id=082704D.

Fred Kuchler and Nicole Ballenger, "Societal Costs of Obesity: How Can We Assess When Federal Interventions Will Pay?

" FoodReview, Vol.

25, Issue 3, USDA/ERS, Winter 2002, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/FoodReview/DEC2002/frvol25i3e.pdf.

Inas Rashad and Michael Gros...

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What Can Government Do About the Obesity Epidemic?