It’s based on there being some failure of willpower – a failure to move more or to eat less. This idea doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, as I will show repeatedly. For example, since 1960, the US National Health surveys have recorded an accurate picture of the nation’s weight. They show that – in white, Black and Hispanic men and women of all ages – there was a dramatic increase in obesity, beginning in the 1970s.8 The idea that there has been a simultaneous collapse in personal responsibility in both men and women across age and ethnic groups is not plausible. If you’re living with obesity, it
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