[safety1st]

Just because someone believes CICO is accurate doesn't mean they also have this "all about willpower" perspective. I think CICO is most of the problem and I also think attributing overeating to a lack of willpower is naive.

More importantly, the willpower debate is irrelevant on a population level. Dieters and personal trainers can argue about it until they're blue in the face but it has nothing to do with policy.

We could achieve better public health outcomes if we accepted that CICO is the big and clear cut problem and ignored all that other stuff.

For example: if you accept that overeating calories is THE public health crisis to solve, our policies around subsidizing cheap calories would no longer make sense. It would follow naturally to discontinue those policies and subsidize nutrient-dense, low calorie foods instead (i.e. fruits and vegetables intended for unprocessed consumption).

Then you would give people an economic incentive to go to the grocery store and buy fruits and vegetables instead of Hot Pockets. Public policy can't fix the whole problem, but it can adjust economic incentives.

Unfortunately people are off tilting at various windmills like mystery pathogens, estrogens in the water, plastic packaging, whatever - instead of accepting that CICO is this clear and central problem and crafting policy which reflects it.