battling the bulge some immodest proposals
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Battling the bulge:some immodest proposals
for tackling obesity
Stephen S Holden
www.halfamind2.com
24 Nov 2016
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Food, glorious food !
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Food, glorious food
"Any pleasure that does no harm to other people is to be
valued."
Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness, p.107
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Food, glorious food !
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Is it right to act ?
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“Good” for who ?Self
– right way to live• “flourishing”
“ethics”
Others– right way to treat
others• cooperation /
compassion
“morals”“It is an ethical matter what colour you paint your house, but it is not a moral matter” -- A.C. Grayling (2005)
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Self-harm ?
Moderate obesity -3yrs |Morbid obesity -10yrs | Smoking -10 yrs
Peto et al. 2010 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1000079#t=article
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Harm (costs) to others…
– obesity costs Australian taxpayers >$5.3b/yr• approximately $230/Australian
– obese more likely to • go to doctors• admitted to hospital• be unemployed and therefore, pay less tax
Grattan Institute, http://grattan.edu.au/why-we-should-tax-sugary-soft-drinks/, 23 Nov 16
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Van Baal et al. (2008) “Lifetime m
edical costs of obesity: Prevention no cure for increasing health expenditure”
Annual vs lifetime costs ?
- annual health-care costs are highest for
- obese people earlier in life (<56 yrs)- smokers at older ages
- lifetime costs highest for -same for obese and non-obese- non-smokers !
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Red herrings ?• growth• marketers seek
profits, wieldundue influence,behave unethically
• consensus• authority
Food for thought…or not ?
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What is the right action ?
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P1: do nothing !
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Proportional
obesity kills…–2.8 million people /
yrhttp://
easo.org/education-portal/obesity-facts-figures
malnutrition kills…–3.1 million people /
yrhttps://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats
most under 5 yrs of age !
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Effective actions
STRONG
Weak
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Secrets of the food industry
The Science of Addictive Food, CBC, March 6, 2013
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Which one do you want ?
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The “secret” of marketing
Morebigger
tastier, shinier, brighter, etc.
Less$
efforttime
Consumers want …
for
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“Convenience”
less effort & / or less time
fast-foodmedicines (Olestra), diets,
trainers/classes
motorised transportremote controls
Google, streaming, online videos
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Conflicting desires …
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Hyperbolic discounting
« on est plus longtemps mort
que vivant »« YOLO ! »
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P2: sleep with the enemy
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Make it “look” bigger
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Make it “look” better
Rolls, Roe, Meengs 2006
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Make it “look” better
Rolls, Roe, Meengs 2006
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“Looks” bigger
Holden 2014 “Use your illusion”
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P3: fat tax
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Consumers want an “out”
• “[Our culture] simultaneously incentivizes people to gain weight and stigmatizes them when they do”
• “…and then offers the bullshit promise of instant weight loss through some miracle diet or incredible exercise secret.”
http://www.vox.com/2015/7/7/8877041/losing-100-pounds
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Fat tax
Fast food Fasting
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Some immodest proposals
Do nothing !………….
Sleep with the enemy
Fat tax
Battling the bulge:some immodest proposals
for tackling obesity
Stephen S Holden
www.halfamind2.com
http://www.slideshare.net/StephenSHolden/
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