A guide to how America became the fattest nation, and how the food industry and the government keep it that way. In The Fattening of America, renowned health economist Eric Finkelstein, along with business writer Laurie Zuckerman, reveal how the US economy has become the driving force behind our expanding waistlines. Blending theory, research, and engaging personal anecdotes, the authors discuss how declining food costs—especially for high-calorie, low-nutrient foods—and an increasing usage of technology, which make Americans more sedentary, has essentially led us to eat more calories than we burn off. Praise for The Fattening of America “[Finkelstein and Zuckerman] show that our entire society profits from making people fat and then either keeping them fat or making them thin again. When you understand how these powerful forces work, you can do a better job of resisting them—and staying healthy.” —Jack Challem, bestselling author of The Food-Mood Solution and Stop Prediabetes Now “Everyone who eats food in America must read this book. It is a comprehensive guide to how we’ve become the fattest nation on the planet and how the food industry, in cahoots with the government, makes us one of the least healthy nations.” —Fred Pescatore, MD, MPH, CCN, author of The Hamptons Diet “The authors have done an excellent job talking to mainstream America about obesity. It brings together all of the latest research and packages it in a way that is engaging for the average person. I very much enjoyed the book and would recommend it for anyone interested in obesity. Well done.” —James O. Hill, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and author of The Step Diet: Count Steps, Not Calories to Lose Weight and Keep It Off Forever “An important book for everyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the underlying causes behind the obesity epidemic and options for addressing it.” —Barry Popkin, Carla Smith Chamblee Distinguished Professor of Global Nutrition at the University of North Carolina

“An in-depth, well-researched, and thoughtful exploration of the ‘fat boom’ in America.” —TheBoston Globe Low carb, high protein, raw foods . . . despite our seemingly endless obsession with fad diets, the startling truth is that six out of ten Americans are overweight or obese. In Fat Land, award-winning nutrition and health journalist Greg Critser examines the facts and societal factors behind the sensational headlines, taking on everything from supersize to Super Mario, high-fructose corn syrup to the high costs of physical education. With a sharp eye and even sharper tongue, Critser examines why pediatricians are now treating conditions rarely seen in children before; why type 2 diabetes is on the rise; the personal struggles of those with weight problems—especially among the poor—and how agribusiness has altered our waistlines. Praised by the New York Times as “absorbing” and by Newsday as “riveting,” this disarmingly funny, yet truly alarming, exposé stands as an important examination of one of the most pressing medical and social issues in the United States. “One scary book and a good companion to Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The epidemics of obesity, disease, low IQ, and depression are the result of a new source of malnutrition caused by chemically loaded, nutrient dead ''science fiction'' food made in factories. Nancy Deville masterfully links America's obsession with factory food and our growing reliance on the pharmaceutical industries. This well-researched guide based on scientific studies reveals the imminent danger behind the low fat/low cholesterol diet and links the introduction of this diet to the proliferation of high-fructose corn syrup, vegetable oil, endocrine disrupting soy, neurologically damaging aspartame, and other unhealthy ingredients that pervade factory food. You do not have to stay fat, depressed, or sick, tethered to pharmaceuticals and dreading old age. It's never too late to begin reversing the effects of factory food. Death By Supermarket shows you how to quit dieting and taking drugs, provide your body and brain with nutritional building blocks, and reclaim your genetic potential -- including your ideal body weight -- by choosing a historically eaten diet of real, whole, living food.

The diet and weight-loss industry is worth $66 billion – billion!! The estimated annual health care costs of obesity-related illness are 190 billion or nearly 21% of annual medical spending in the United States. But how did we get here? Is this a battle we can’t win? What changes need to be made in order to scale back the incidence of obesity in the US, and, indeed, around the world? Here, Jonathan Engel reviews the sources of the problem and offers the science behind our modern propensity toward obesity. He offers a plan for helping address the problem, but admits that it is, indeed, an uphill battle. Nevertheless, given the magnitude of the costs in years of life and vigor lost, it is a battle worth fighting. Fat Nation is a social history of obesity in the United States since the second World War. In confronting this familiar topic from a historical perspective, Jonathan Engel attempts to show that obesity is a symptom of complex changes that have transpired over the past half century to our food, our living habits, our life patterns, our built environments, and our social interactions. He offers readers solid grounding in the known science underlying obesity (genetic set points, complex endocrine feedback loops, neurochemical messengering) but then makes the novel argument that obesity is a result of the interaction of our genes with our environment. That is, our bodies have always been programmed to become obese, but until recently never had the opportunity to do so. Now, with cheap calories ubiquitous (particularly in the form of sucrose), unwalkable physical spaces, deteriorating rituals and norms surrounding eating, and the withering of cooking skills, nearly every American daily confronts the challenge of not putting on weight. Given the outcomes, though, for those who are obese, Engel encourages us to address the problems and offers suggestions to help remedy the problem.

Kennedy will shock readers into understanding that greed and politics play a much greater role in causing obesity than do improper diet and lack of exercise. A must read for anyone that seeks to lose weight.

This is a study of obesity in America from 1850 to 1939, concentrating on how the condition was viewed, studied, and treated. It examines the images and stereotypes that were associated with fatness, the various remedies that were proposed for the condition, and the often bizarre theories used to explain it, including the idea that ordinary tap water was fattening. From about 1850 to 1879, obesity existed almost exclusively among the upper class, and it received very little medical attention. From 1880 to 1919, doctors, scientists, and other health professionals began to present a coherent theory of obesity. By 1920, the condition was recognized as a big enough health issue that various groups, ranging from private employers to public health officials, began developing some of the nation's first organized weight reduction programs.

A gourmand's guide to the slim life shares the principles of French gastronomy, the art of enjoying all edibles in proportion, arguing that the secret of being thin and happy lies in the ability to appreciate and balance pleasures.