Fat America
It's CalorieLab's annual state obesity ranking. Basically, about 26 percent of people in America are not just overweight, but obese. Does this seem weird? 1 in 4 people are obese? I almost don't believe it. I picture the people in my life, and none of them appear particularly fat to me. Sure, we all might have a pound or two to lose but 1 in 4 obese? Hardly.
That's the crux of it though, isn't it? I don't see people as obese and I imagine that the same holds true for most people. Our perception of fat must have changed in recent years. Look at family photos from the 70's and 80's. Hell, everyone in my aunt Mary's wedding photo looks hungry by today's standards. They all look ridiculously thin, but for them that was normal.
We've come to accept fat as normal, and so we're surprised when Tim Russert dies at 58. Sure, he was a typical looking guy, but typical doesn't mean healthy anymore.
The moral? Don't be typical.
Treat ‘em like Cows…
Check out this NY Times article.
I think this is an outstanding approach towards public health, although it is a little scary that humans demonstrate such herd-like behavior. It's kind of a win-win with the Ghanaians washing their hands more and these über-corporations getting some well-needed positive P.R. If we know people are cows, why not treat them as such?
I'm impressed that Dr. Curtis was able to use the corporate machine so well. It isn't often that activists can get past their derision for "the system" in order to manipulate and take advantage of it.