It’s Not Your Fault? Bogus.

I was shocked and appalled when I came across an article in The Seattle Times yesterday which stated that if people are overweight, they are not to blame. Instead, it is apparently the fault of food manufacturers and marketers, grocery-store managers, restaurant operators and food vendors – literally the people who make food visible, available and tasty. So don’t worry, all those extra pounds aren’t YOUR fault – it’s all those people who come into your home each evening at dinner time and literally SHOVE the food down your throat. You have no control, people!

Is this sounding ludicrous to anyone else?

Apparently, several recent studies, papers and a popular weight-loss book argue that eating is an automatic behavior triggered by environmental cues that most people are unaware of, or simply can’t ignore. Ah yes – my mind definitely does render me PHYSICALLY INCAPABLE of stuffing seven or eight mini candy bars from the front desk into my mouth each day. I am UNABLE TO RESIST – they are drawn into my fingers like a moth to a flame. But now I know it’s really not my fault and I should not be held accountable. I can now eat as much as I want and blame the downfall of my health on someone else. What a phenomenal concept! (Do you sense my dripping sarcasm?)

Accepting this “don’t blame me” notion seems like the biggest crock of shit I’ve heard of in years. But the theory that society – not us – is to blame for our expanding waist sizes is getting support from health and nutrition experts! They say that eating is an automatic behavior that has little to do with choice, willpower or even hunger. Oh yeah, those cave men didn’t kill Saber-Tooth Tigers because they were hungry and needed sustenance to survive, they did it because it looked so damn tasty they were unable to resist.

"The environment, I think, to a large extent explains the obesity epidemic," says Dr. Robert H. Eckel, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado and past president of the American Heart Association. "But should we change the environment to alter the obesity epidemic? To blame it all on the environment is a mistake. There is individual responsibility." Finally, someone in this damn article is exhibiting some semblance of common sense!

Others however, seem completely idiotic. Take Dr. Deborah A. Cohen, a senior natural scientist at Rand Corp. and the author of a recent paper on the environmental theory of obesity. In her paper, she says people need protection from the "toxic environment" and calls on governments, communities and organizations to solve the obesity problem. She advocates downsizing portions, limiting access to ready-to-eat foods and curbing food advertising.

Oh my God, has our whole society turned into a bunch of five-year-olds who can’t resist shiny objects? You don’t HAVE to order the supersized French fries, or the all-you-can-eat pasta bowl. Do people honestly feel the need to have the GOVERNMENT regulate what each individual person chooses to eat each day? Will there now be Secret Service agents in bad suits and dark glasses in the back of McDonalds, snatching that double cheeseburger out of your hand when your calorie intake exceeds a certain limit? Or disconnecting your phone call to Pizza Hut when the total fat grams are deemed out of control for your order? COME ON.

I understand many people have difficulty maintaining their weight, and perhaps social pressures could slightly contribute to that. But have we really gotten to a point where people are refusing to take accountability for anything, including their own healthy lives and bodies? Are we really starting to blame our consumerism-driven society for our problems, as if we have no free will at all? If that is the case, I am seriously disturbed and sad.