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Food Kills More People than Smoking and Alcohol

Dr. Jay Parkinson, who you may remember from issue 13, thinks we need to stop pussyfooting around the issue of obesity in America. In a recent...

Zach Frechette
By Zach FrechetteSep 26, 2009
Zach Frechette
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Dr. Jay Parkinson, who you may remember from issue 13, thinks we need to stop pussyfooting around the issue of obesity in America. In a recent blog post he asks: "If obesity is linked so closely to so many of the top 10 diseases that kill Americans, why don't we have PSAs saying 'Obesity Kills?' Why aren't we, as a culture, condemning obesity just as we condemn crack and smoking?" He goes on to explain that 95 percent of obesity is the result of food addiction, and wonders about things like a "fat tax" for high fructose corn syrup, and if we should erase "obese" from our vocabulary in favor of the more direct-and possibly more motivating-"fat."Given that poor eating habits are so closely related with severe (and preventable) health problems, it does seem like a problem that needs addressing. Is this aggressive approach the right one, or can you think of something better?Photo (cc) by Flickr user dotbenjamin.
healthjay parkinsonfood and drink

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