Richard Linklater is planning a big-screen adaptation of "Fast Food Nation," the 2001 expose book by Eric Schlosser.

Says Morgan Spurlock: "You see how deep the tentacles run, You see how big the web is."

Want Stealth With That? The 'Fast Food Nation' Film Goes Undercover

In a finding that may someday benefit the socially manipulative as well as the socially awkward, Swiss researchers are reporting that doses of a natural hormone significantly increased the level of trust that people placed in strangers who were handling their money.

The study, which appears in today's issue of the journal Nature, is the first to show that a simple administration of a hormone in humans can consistently alter something as socially sensitive as trust.

Hormone Dose May Increase People's Trust in Strangers

Can you bottle trust? The answer, it seems, is yes. Researchers have produced a potion that, when sniffed, makes people more likely to give their cash to someone to look after.

Trust In A Bottle

Luckily, a group of authors has recently released a series of pop science books focused on solving this particular problem. Here are some lessons on ordering food from those books.

How to order food in a restaurant

Cutting just a few calories overall, but feeding intermittently, may be a more feasible eating pattern for some people to maintain than making small reductions each and every day.

All you can't eat | Economist

"This system is smarter than we are."

Drug Makers Race to Cash In on Nation's Fight Against Fat

Elonka wrote:
] Health posts, I've been following. I saw your other obesity
] posts, and agree with them. Yes, obesity is a crisis in our
] country. The numbers I've been seeing in the health magazines
] are actually higher than what you found -- More like 75% of
] our country is overweight or out of shape, not 60%.

I would readily believe a statement like "75% of Americans don't get enough exercise." I got the 60% obesity figure from supersizeme.com, so that figure may already be two years old. And if you've looked at the Census data, you know what a dramatic difference two years can make on the nation's waistline.

] So in any case, yes, I agree with you. But no, I don't think
] the new reports are going to change behaviors.
]
] As for where to place the blame, I agree that everyone has a
] personal responsibility to take care of their own lifestyle,
] but I also think that fast food chains and heavy marketing
] share a lot of the blame.

Personal responsibility is a key component, but fighting obesity is not a purely selfish consideration. There is also an altruistic component that draws on an individual's sense of civic duty. Further, we share a social responsibility to protect each other, not just on a person-to-person basis, but on a collective level, as well.

When it comes to obesity in the US today, I don't expect many people to readily accept my arguments about civic duty and social responsibility. Obesity is already a true crisis in the United States, but its detrimental effect on GDP is not yet widely acknowledged by the general public. Even for smoking, no one really talked about this. But with smoking, the US was not distinguished in this regard; it was a world-wide problem. Today, obesity is a singularly American problem in a way that smoking never was. Because of this great disparity among nations, we may be at a significant competitive disadvantage, but it is one whose effects may be difficult to measure because we're dealing with a long term (life long) investment.

This is why I drew comparisons to AIDS in Africa. Although the communicability of AIDS gives it epidemic properties that obesity does not exhibit, I observe that within two decades the incidence of drug-resistant adult-onset diabetes in a first-world country (the US) may exceed the incidence of AIDS in even the worst-afflicted third-world countries. I expect some people may be offended by that comparison; these people miss my point. I am not saying they are equal. I am simply trying to demonstrate that pervasive chronic illness has a major depressive effect on the national economy and on the national well-being in societal terms. I observe as well that because first-world countries have so much more at stake -- meaning so much more to lose -- they have even more reason to be vigilant against such dangers. And yet we are not.

If you think healthcare in the US today is out of control, just you wait. When 50% of Americans suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and 25% have had a heart bypass operation by age 40, then maybe I'll be able to get your attention.

RE: 'Diabesity,' a Crisis in an Expanding Country

terratogen wrote:
] The 25 years get cut right from the social security budget.
] Let smokers smoke, drunks drink, and drug addicts do their drugs.

It's funny because it's true. Right on.

Although I will point out that the government and the public also invests a lot of time, money, and resources in people when they're young, and society's return on that investment is sacrificed when we let those people die early.

It's problematic to attempt generalizations. I think both ideas make sense, but in different circumstances. It's not just single mothers on welfare who are obese. When 25% of the US population is obese, and 60% of the population is overweight, we're talking about a significant number of highly productive individuals who are in large part collectively responsible for our national well-being.

Your taxes are higher, and America is less competitive globally, because otherwise smart and productive people die early. Whether they die because of smoking, heart disease, obesity, or random gang violence is immaterial for the purposes of this argument, although I am focusing here specifically on obesity because it is a huge and growing problem, well on the way to becoming the leading cause of preventable death in the US.

] Not everyone wants to live forever. That's the religious ...

Actually the fundamentalists often look forward to mortal death with great anticipation. Did you see the Rapture story on the Daily Show recently? Have you seen those "The Rising" books at the book store and at the top of the best seller lists?

They can't wait! They're so excited they daydream about it, and those of them with deficient imaginations resort to reading books in order to conjure up the desired imagery.

] Try to tell them that they live wrong.

It's this line of investigation that is wrongheaded ... it's not a moral question. Nothing I wrote was intended to give that impression. I was making an economic argument. It's a question of our very viability as a nation.

RE: 'Diabesity,' a Crisis in an Expanding Country

Are our schools, our parents, our national leaders blind to what is happening -- a health crisis that looms even larger than our former and current smoking habits?

I can't believe no one responded to my previous posts about obesity. I understand. Between the smoke breaks, the french fries, and the Big Gulp, your time is precious. (Little do you know how right you are; read on.)

To the extent you think about America's global competitiveness in the decades ahead, you fixate on our ability to fabricate the best techno-gizmos, music, and movies.

You are missing the point. The US may well lose out to China and India simply because of pervasive ill health among the population.

You may look at statistics on the prevalence of AIDS in Africa and say to yourself, "what are they thinking?" Well, the rest of the world is saying the same thing about you and your fat friends.

Unless we change our eating and exercise habits and pay greater attention to this disease, more than one-third of whites, two-fifths of blacks and half of Hispanic people in this country will develop diabetes.

Hello?!? Do I have to go back and give the Census data a gold star in order for you to look at it?

You know that team of four illegal Mexican robot hackers? Two of them are going to get diabetes, and it is going to steal a combined 50 years from their lives.

My fellow MemeStreamers: look to your left. Look to your right. One of you will be a diabetic soon. (But not for long.)

'Diabesity,' a Crisis in an Expanding Country

Download the PowerPoint briefing! The trends are quite dramatic. (Despite what this page says, it's only 1 MByte.)

During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. In 1985 only a few states were participating in CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and providing obesity data. In 1991, four states had obesity prevalence rates of 15–19 percent and no states had rates at or above 20 percent. In 2003, 15 states had obesity prevalence rates of 15–19 percent; 31 states had rates of 20–24 percent; and 4 states had rates more than 25 percent.

Keep in mind: this data is limited to obesity. If you broaden the scope just slightly, you'll find that 60% of all Americans are either overweight or obese. (Did you know that, "left unabated, obesity will surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America?" Did you also know that "One in every three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime", and that "Diabetes will cut 17-27 years off your life"?)

The simplest explanation for the downward trend in music?

Fat people hate music.

Isn't it obvious? Think about it. (Forget about what Queen said; that was decades ago. Of course, there is Jennifer Lopez ...) Think about MTV and how it has changed the face (and body) of popular music. Seriously, think about it.

What explains the Government's failure to respond? (Answer: the Fat Lobby is very strong -- even if they do have to outsource their Muscle.)

End the War on Drugs! Begin the War on Fat!

Forget about the balanced budget amendment. Pass a balanced diet amendment! The lives of Ordinary Americans are at stake here!

Ask yourself how many Americans dropped dead within 4 hours of eating at McDonald's while Congress piddled around in Playland over the Schiavo case. The truth may shock you.

US Obesity Trends 1985 to 2000