My father returned from a business trip with great enthusiasm for a new food product he had experienced. A company had found the best meat available and mass produced hamburgers, with the mustard, ketchup, and pickle already on the bun. Dad had eaten his first McDonald’s hamburger, more than a half century ago.
He died at age 45 of a massive heart attack, a product not only of McDonald’s and other fast food, but of a sedentary lifestyle, poor heredity, and a 1950’s diet, in which it wasn’t a meal without meat.
He and others who lived through the Second World War had experienced the deprivation of rationing following not long after the Great Depression. Having enough to eat, enough protein to eat, and then seeing opulent food as a sign of material success were all very real to that generation.
The success of feminism led to changes in America’s eating habits. Instead of one partner packing the lunch pail and preparing dinner, both were in the work force, too hurried and harried to spend as much time on meals. Quick meals, whether processed from the grocery store or from a fast food chain, became the norm. In the not too distant future we will learn what the impact has been on gut bacteria that process nutrients and play a role in regulating our weight.
In October 2011 researchers from the University of Michigan, Warsaw School of Social Science and Humanities, and the University of Texas published a study showing significant correlation between national rates of obesity and the density of Subway restaurants in 28 developed nations. Their study ‘Globesization’:
ecological evidence on the relationship between fast food outlets and obesity among 26 advanced
economies found high rates of obesity in countries such as the United States and Canada with high density of Subway restaurants compared to low rates of obesity in countries such as Japan and Norway with low rates.
We can safely assume that it is not Subway alone, but a propensity to support fast food restaurants that is related to obesity. In the study graphic below, the clustering of values along a rising trend line from lower right to upper left, demonstrates the correlation between obesity on the vertical and subways on the horizontal:
Source: Roberto De Vogli , Anne Kouvonen & David Gimeno (2011): ‘Globesization’: ecological evidence on the relationship between fast food outlets and obesity among 26 advanced economies, Critical Public Health, 21:4, 395-402
My father’s generation died sooner, from fatty diets, cigarettes, and a sedentary lifestyle. If anything, computers have made our lifestyles more sedentary, but we know the dangers of cigarettes and saturated fats. We have statin drugs to stave off early death. Now we live longer, die slower, and endure chronic illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
One of the singular distinctions between children and adults is the ability of adults to postpone pleasure and even endure discomfort in pursuit of a greater good. That may mean planning healthier meals, lighter meals, walking more and driving less. It means, in short, all the things we know we should do but sometimes do not. A long life need not be accompanied by a slow death–if we are willing to act on the knowledge we already have.
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