This week we wrap up “The Skinny on Obesity” series with an argument for why obesity is a public health and economic threat that’s worthy of the same treatment as other public health problems like smoking and drug abuse. For our experts, nothing short of wholesale change in what we expect from the food industry will make a dent in America’s obesity problem.
Some might call Dr. Lustig’s argument for the regulation of sugar as the creation of a “nanny state,” but he insists that food manufacturers already benefit tremendously from government subsidies and have limited consumer choice to predominantly high-sugar foods– precisely how we got so fat in the first place. It’s a provocative argument and one worth hearing out. Watch “The Skinny on Obesity: Drugs, Cigarettes, Alcohol..and Sugar?”
But don’t stop there. We’ve made plenty of resources available, including an editorial by UCSF Public Health Professor Laura Schmidt, who backs up the argument for sugar regulation, as well as an overview of the research that supports such interventions.
We hope you’ve gotten as much out “The Skinny on Obesity” as we have working on it. I know many of us here at UCTV have already made changes in how we eat and think about food. While we still have the ocassional birthday cake in the office, you can be darn sure that we’re calculating the toll it takes on our bodies, brains and society at large. It still tastes pretty good though.
Stay tuned in June for the next UCTV Prime series, “Our Digital Life.” The three-part series premieres June 15 and explores how researchers at UC Merced are using digital technology to inform and influence our lives.