[bb85]

That doesn't explain how someone can just let it happen to the point of suffering of it every day without taking simple measures to reverse it.

Most of the time the difference between steady gaining or losing weight is a few hundred calories a day. That's far from a lifestyle change.

When moving around becomes difficult, when dating becomes harder, when the aches and pain start... there's gotta be more to it than just a lot of sugar in your everyday stuff.

I always wonder (for other drugs too), if they're a way to slowly remove yourself from situations, or whatever it is, that make you uncomfortable. A way to permanently disqualify yourself from the race, because the idea of running (no pun intended) makes you anxious?

[VLM]

"That doesn't explain how someone can just let it happen to the point of suffering of it every day"

Abstract out the obesity, and you've described every chronic health condition, ever. A huge number of emergency room admissions read something like: I thought it was normal that road signs were getting a little blurry after 40. Sure my heart screams in agony when I climb stairs, but who's doesn't? My knees are in crippling pain for days if I hike more than two miles. Every time I drink, I drink till I pass out or are arrested, but doesn't everyone? After I eat sugary food (aka modern american diet) I feel faint and fuzzy, that's normal, right? I hear voices in my head more often as time goes on. Why how odd that pain pill has smoothly and gradually gone from something to make life bearable after surgery, to life is unbearable without it, to life is unbearable even with it.

People tend to be pretty good at getting medical care for acute things like bleeding out more than a quart or so, or broken bones, but not so good at getting help for chronic things. Gettin fat is obviously not an acute problem.

[emodendroket]

The food industry has a significant number of people employed whose whole job is to make you think foods are healthier than they are and get you to eat more of them. I mean it's not by accident that almost every food in the supermarket ended up with some health claims on the box (my favorite examples of this are, like, "natural" eggs and "gluten-free" meats).

That's assuming you're buying your own food; if you're eating in a restaurant or something you don't even really know what you are consuming.

[bb85]

Interesting, so I guess it's an education problem?

I guess just like real-talk sex-ed went against the interest of big-church, teaching some basics when it comes to nutrition would hurt a lot of big-food...

[emodendroket]

I don't think it's just that, although many have found it suspect that the dairy industry gave a lot of funding that helped the development of the original food pyramid with dairy as a core food group.

To me it's more like the current environment, to borrow a programming term, makes it difficult to "fall into the pit of success."

The NYT ran a great article on this a few years ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary...

[JabavuAdams]

People generally do what those around them do. Why was smoking so much more popular 50 years ago? Why do people still smoke in 2016? Why is spanking almost child abuse, now?

It's not like we're rationally considering each small action. Instead, at any time, in a give society, there are a set of behaviours that are considered within the normal range. We're mostly on autopilot.