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I am not quite sure what to think of this book, particularly after I've read The Obsession. While I agree about things like not marketing fast food in school and making healthier foods more accessible to people with lower incomes, there are some arguments of the authors that bother me a little, except I can't quite figure out why.
The subtitle of the book pretty much summarizes what Critser is looking to convince the reader of, and in one of the chapters, he writes of loosening dietary restrictions, with the increasing trend of dieting books that say "it's ok to be fat" and argue that there are ways to lose weight without giving up high fat foods (Atkins!). He also includes bits like how clothing companies change sizes around so that size 8 gets larger and larger to make people feel better, as well as diet books that claim less exercise can be done to lose weight. This is the part that I was touchiest about. I don't enough about the science and the trends to know about what levels of obesity are dangerous to one's health, and it does seem to be a rather contentious topic these days. And Critser writes with a tone of voice that seems to condemn people for not just wanting to eat everything they want without exercising, but also with the viewpoint that people should really watch their weight.
Hrm. I mean, I agree... to an extent. I'm 130 lb. and 5'4". I say this because sometimes I have no idea if that's fat or not. This is because for pretty much as long as I can remember, my mom has been telling me to exercise and watch what I eat and lose some weight, with the exception of freshmen year, when I dropped to 115 lb., looked (according to my sister) slightly skeletal. I am really sick of being told to watch my weight and to watch what I eat. I know all the health reasons, etc. etc. etc., but for once, I would like to go home and have the first thing people say to me NOT be about my weight! Every single time I go home and meet people, invariably one of the first comments will be whether I have gained weight or lost weight. Not just with my family -- with almost every single family friend or person who has seen me the previous year. It drives me crazy. The culture of sitting around at the table and pretending that you have to watch what you eat when there's perfectly tasty food in front of you drives me crazy too. I like food. I hate it when people watch me scarf down a giant sandwich and say "wow, I can't believe you eat that much." I don't know anyone who is happy with their weight and doesn't want to lose some.
I mean, I can't say about everyone, but for me, Critser's argument that people just want to eat all they want with no guilt and no need to exercise feels like the flip side of this constant barrage of messages saying you must be skinny, you must be skinny, if you are not skinny, you are lazy and ugly and worthless, which is a horrid message.
On the other hand, I do agree with other points that he makes about the cheapness of fast food and the easy accessability of it and other not-so-nutritionally-wonderful foods to kids, especially in schools. I don't know enough about his entire chapter on the evils of obesity on the health to comment. But in general I figure it's usually better to eat stuff fresh. I don't know. I'm not really a nutritionist. I just eat stuff that tastes good, and I've found that for some reason I can start tasting this chemical aftertaste with some food, and so I've been avoiding those. And I do agree about the portions, because compared to Taiwan portions, portions here are huge! Of course, I won't complain that much because it means I can take home half of my lunch and eat it for dinner because I'm cheap.
Not much of a conclusion from me, except that I wish I knew more so that I comment more in depth on the issues that Critser raises.
The subtitle of the book pretty much summarizes what Critser is looking to convince the reader of, and in one of the chapters, he writes of loosening dietary restrictions, with the increasing trend of dieting books that say "it's ok to be fat" and argue that there are ways to lose weight without giving up high fat foods (Atkins!). He also includes bits like how clothing companies change sizes around so that size 8 gets larger and larger to make people feel better, as well as diet books that claim less exercise can be done to lose weight. This is the part that I was touchiest about. I don't enough about the science and the trends to know about what levels of obesity are dangerous to one's health, and it does seem to be a rather contentious topic these days. And Critser writes with a tone of voice that seems to condemn people for not just wanting to eat everything they want without exercising, but also with the viewpoint that people should really watch their weight.
Hrm. I mean, I agree... to an extent. I'm 130 lb. and 5'4". I say this because sometimes I have no idea if that's fat or not. This is because for pretty much as long as I can remember, my mom has been telling me to exercise and watch what I eat and lose some weight, with the exception of freshmen year, when I dropped to 115 lb., looked (according to my sister) slightly skeletal. I am really sick of being told to watch my weight and to watch what I eat. I know all the health reasons, etc. etc. etc., but for once, I would like to go home and have the first thing people say to me NOT be about my weight! Every single time I go home and meet people, invariably one of the first comments will be whether I have gained weight or lost weight. Not just with my family -- with almost every single family friend or person who has seen me the previous year. It drives me crazy. The culture of sitting around at the table and pretending that you have to watch what you eat when there's perfectly tasty food in front of you drives me crazy too. I like food. I hate it when people watch me scarf down a giant sandwich and say "wow, I can't believe you eat that much." I don't know anyone who is happy with their weight and doesn't want to lose some.
I mean, I can't say about everyone, but for me, Critser's argument that people just want to eat all they want with no guilt and no need to exercise feels like the flip side of this constant barrage of messages saying you must be skinny, you must be skinny, if you are not skinny, you are lazy and ugly and worthless, which is a horrid message.
On the other hand, I do agree with other points that he makes about the cheapness of fast food and the easy accessability of it and other not-so-nutritionally-wonderful foods to kids, especially in schools. I don't know enough about his entire chapter on the evils of obesity on the health to comment. But in general I figure it's usually better to eat stuff fresh. I don't know. I'm not really a nutritionist. I just eat stuff that tastes good, and I've found that for some reason I can start tasting this chemical aftertaste with some food, and so I've been avoiding those. And I do agree about the portions, because compared to Taiwan portions, portions here are huge! Of course, I won't complain that much because it means I can take home half of my lunch and eat it for dinner because I'm cheap.
Not much of a conclusion from me, except that I wish I knew more so that I comment more in depth on the issues that Critser raises.
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