[codahale]

You're ignoring the fact that the food industries in Europe and America are very different. When Italy has an Applebee's in each strip mall then Italians will be as fat as Americans. People are people; neither you nor Europeans are magical in their limited appetites. They simply haven't been conditioned from birth to overeat.

Or, alternatively, fat people are sissies. It's an, uh, interesting theory you've put forth. Best of luck in getting that paper published.

[jasonkester]

It still comes down to self control. I didn't move to Europe until I was 36, and I'm not fat. I've cut my share of Applebees Chicken Fried Steaks in half to box up for dinner, while my co-workers finished theirs off. It has just always seemed readily apparent that if you eat every meal until you are full, you will get fat. I don't, so I haven't.

So yeah, it's entirely possible that we're conditioning our kids to overeat. But then we're also going out of our way to make them feel better about themselves because you're special just the way you are.

[codahale]

I don't think you've read the OP.

It addresses self-control: evidence exists to support the idea that human have a limited amount and range of focus of self-control, and can suffer from self-control fatigue:

http://www.stolaf.edu/people/huff/classes/GoodnEvil/Readings...

Hell, that paper was on HN not long ago.

Self-control is not a great vehicle for weight loss, as is evidenced by the recidivism rate for diets, fad or otherwise. "Use self-control" is shitty advice for weight loss. "Avoid the cue-dopamine-behavior-opioid reinforcement cycle by using cognitive psychology self-talk to associate negative emotions with salient cues, consciously pre-determining behavior for when one is presented with salient cues, and avoiding hyperpalatable foods with high levels of salt, sugar, and fat" is closer to the mark, though it's not as punchy. Also doesn't provide the same sense of moral self-satisfaction from being stronger than fat people.

I have no idea where you're coming from with the special snowflake crap. The article was not titled Exercise Won't Make You Thin (So Buy A Mu-Mu And Eat Up Fatty Because You're Never Going To Change And That's OK). In fact, the article concludes with: "In short, it's what you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain."

I fail to detect the self-esteem happy-talk fatalism to which you're reacting.