Greg Critser: Fat Land

Reviewed by MARK FRYER

Fat Land: How Americans Became The Fattest People In The World

Go to the United States and what do you see? Big people. Very big people.

It's not just the weight, it's the way it's displayed.

Every bulge and crease, wobble and jiggle is strangely fascinating if you come from a place where overweight is a somewhat shameful affliction, not something to be flaunted.

First impressions don't lie. Americans are, as they coyly say, "heavy".

About 60 per cent are overweight and 20 per cent obese - meaning their lives are likely to be cut short by their excess girth.

Five million are morbidly obese, fat enough to qualify for the "stomach stapling" operation that may be their only hope of returning to something like a normal shape.

Heavy and getting heavier. That 60 per cent overweight figure was nearer 25 per cent 20 years ago.

A quarter of Americans under the age of 19 are overweight or worse, twice as many as 30 years ago.

Obesity, says University of Colorado physiologist James O. Hill, is "a normal response to the American environment."

Greg Critser, a health writer and reformed fattie, set out to discover why his fellow Americans were ballooning.

His list of culprits is long. Blame a kilo or two on the changing American family, a few more on the decline of physical education in schools, more yet on such culinary delights as (Government-subsidised) corn syrup and palm oil.

Even the permissive 1960s cop some of the blame - after that caring, sharing decade, Americans were so busy being non-judgmental, accepting diversity and maintaining each other's self-esteem that the idea of excess weight as a failing went out the window.

But save a special place for the fast food industry and its discovery of "supersizing", otherwise known as satisfying appetites people didn't know they had.

It's one of those ideas that looks obvious only afterwards - offer customers more and they will buy more.

And, having bought more, they will eat more.

Two boxes of popcorn at the movies? Too piggish. A jumbo-sized box for just a little more money? A bargain.

Today, a serving of McDonald's fries that provided 200 calories in 1960 weighs in at 610 calories. Thirsty Americans can slake their thirst with a "Double Gulp" - a bladder-straining 1.9 litres of soft drink.

One fast food chain's "Macho Meal" tips the scales at 1.8kg.

Science proves what the fast food purveyors already know. The mere presence of more food on our plates is enough to make us eat more.

Another finding: surprise, surprise, TV makes you fat. Take a sample of American children, weigh them, count how many hours they spend in front of the box and - bingo - the more TV, the more body fat.

Then there's the touchy question of class. For, whichever way you adjust the figures, America's fattest are also its poorest, and most likely to be some shade other than white.

Old attitudes - food good, exercise bad - may be partly to blame among immigrants, but the reasons may be more straightforward.

When home is on the poor side of town, safe sidewalks and parks for exercising can be a scarce commodity. Junior may be packing on the pounds in front of the TV, but at least he's not likely to get shot.

This is not a diet book. No secret steps to a slender you.

But if it's motivation you need, try this list: diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, stroke, arthritis, numb feet, gangrene, skin infections, gallstones, ovarian cysts, excess hair growth, deteriorating vision, slipped hips, bow legs, sleeping trouble, asthma, birth defects, cancer ...

That's the future of fat.

* Penguin, $34.95