Plated Gold Strategy

You know that all of the zoning out of fast food chains may be for nought if the NY Times story from yesterday is on the money. It seems that Americans are getting fat for a pretty good reason: "In 1970, the average American ate about 16.4 pounds of food a week, or 2.3 pounds daily. By 2006, the average intake grew by an additional 1.8 pounds a week."

So we're getting fatter because, well, we're eating more-and moving less as well: "The numbers don't reveal how much grain went into bread versus cookies, or how many chicken breasts became chicken nuggets. But the overall increase in eating does suggest a link with the rise in Americans' weight over the same period."

Which gets us back to the fact that, if we're going to reduce the obesity epidemic, it's gonna have to begin at the level of individual consciousness-along with a good dose of public education. The restrictive policy approach will likely fall flat; hurting only the business that are unfairly blamed for people's bad habits.