That cursed affluence
Robert Samuelson’s latest Newsweek column argues that America’s obesity “crisis” is an ailment of affluence. The interesting grafs: The supposed villains here are fast-food restaurants and food companies that have supersized us to corpulence. There’s some truth to this, but the larger and more boring truth is that food’s gotten cheaper, and as a result, ...
Robert Samuelson's latest Newsweek column argues that America's obesity "crisis" is an ailment of affluence. The interesting grafs:
Robert Samuelson’s latest Newsweek column argues that America’s obesity “crisis” is an ailment of affluence. The interesting grafs:
The supposed villains here are fast-food restaurants and food companies that have supersized us to corpulence. There’s some truth to this, but the larger and more boring truth is that food’s gotten cheaper, and as a result, we consume more of it—and more away from home. In 1950, Americans devoted a fifth of their disposable incomes to food (and less than a fifth of that to eating out). Now food’s share is a tenth (and almost half is out). We eat what pleases us, and so why should anyone be surprised that the average American now consumes about 150 pounds of sugar and sweeteners annually, up roughly 20 percent since 1980? The only saving grace is that some of the extra food “is thrown away—otherwise, all Americans would weigh 300 pounds,” says Roland Sturm, an obesity expert at the Rand Corp…. Getting wealthier spawns other complaints. One is the “time squeeze”—the sense that we’re more harried than ever. We all know this is true; we’re tugged by jobs, family, PTA and soccer. Actually, it’s not true. People go to work later in life and retire earlier. Housework has declined. One survey found that in 1999 only 14 percent of wives did more than four hours of daily housework; the figure was 43 percent in 1977 and 87 percent in 1924. Even when jobs and housework are combined, total work hours for women and men have dropped.
Read the entire piece.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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