However, I’m struggling to imagine how centralised actions would work. e.g.:
* Food and food ingredients are probably part of the problem, yet lots of people in America also manage to not be obese. There are some low-hanging fruit (eg high fructose corn syrup and saturated fats), but how far to go and where to stop? Also, this would generate a huge fight with those industries affected.
* We could create economic incentives or disincentives, but give there’re links between obesity and lower socioeconomic status, this would hit poor people harder and potentially exacerbate inequality.
* Education also seems like a rational response, but agreeing the ‘truth’ to educate people with would be a difficult fight! As in, the ‘Standard American Diet’ pyramid taught for generations and supported by “experts” is arguably a very bad diet to teach people to follow, yet misaligned incentives and economic influences meant that it persisted for generations. If that dogma was changed, where to go: low carb, vs. plant-based, vs. calorie counting, vs. paleo/primal, vs. intermittent fasting…?
And ultimately, as we saw during the pandemic, large groups of people are able to be stubborn and make scientifically bad decisions, especially in this world of ever-more polarised politics. You really think the anti-maskers will cope well with centralised (“communist”) meddling with their freedoms around food and drink?
> However, I’m struggling to imagine how centralised actions would work.
Don't imagine, just have a look at what is happening in other countries. Overlooking the world outside of the USA is also very "American".
Chile has the same problem with obesity. Some national policies where introduced, including mandatory information on food packages and a sugar tax. Of course, it did not magically solve the problem, but the obesity pandemic is decelerating, and the sales of unhealthy food have dropped, especially for children.
Other countries have introduced similar rules for mandatory package labels. In this domain, Mexico and Canada are ahead of the USA.
Adding one can of soda to your diet, and changing nothing else, will see you gain 10lbs in a year, or 50 in five. Sugar alone explains a substantial portion of the obesity epidemic. A sugar tax, were there political will for it, would go a long way and be far and away the simplest approach. Our political system is just so dysfunctional right now, it shard to imagine it happening anytime soon at scale.
I'd say that "centralized" action should first and foremost counter the "centralized systems" that cause this. food lobby, medicine lobby, car manufacturers. All their marketing, sales and "information supply".
One can argue that e.g. Coca Cola or Mac Donalds are mere players in a vast decentralised market, but everyone knows they are at best oligopolies and at worst centralized monopolies with a clear financial incentive to sell their inherently unhealthy products. Your local farmer, selling stuff for home cooked meals isn't anything close to a true competitor to these multinationals.
Eliminate zoning to enable functional walkable communities
Tax sugar (and eliminate subsidies for corn that goes into corn syrup)
The anti-maskers are going to be crybabies about literally anything. If we invented yellow paint today they’d insist it couldn’t be put on roads because they sometimes prefer to drive on the left side. We can’t let our country be permanently held hostage by the tyranny of the minority.
However, I’m struggling to imagine how centralised actions would work. e.g.:
* Food and food ingredients are probably part of the problem, yet lots of people in America also manage to not be obese. There are some low-hanging fruit (eg high fructose corn syrup and saturated fats), but how far to go and where to stop? Also, this would generate a huge fight with those industries affected.
* We could create economic incentives or disincentives, but give there’re links between obesity and lower socioeconomic status, this would hit poor people harder and potentially exacerbate inequality.
* Education also seems like a rational response, but agreeing the ‘truth’ to educate people with would be a difficult fight! As in, the ‘Standard American Diet’ pyramid taught for generations and supported by “experts” is arguably a very bad diet to teach people to follow, yet misaligned incentives and economic influences meant that it persisted for generations. If that dogma was changed, where to go: low carb, vs. plant-based, vs. calorie counting, vs. paleo/primal, vs. intermittent fasting…?
And ultimately, as we saw during the pandemic, large groups of people are able to be stubborn and make scientifically bad decisions, especially in this world of ever-more polarised politics. You really think the anti-maskers will cope well with centralised (“communist”) meddling with their freedoms around food and drink?