I never worried much about whether Americans were getting fatter. Only whether I was getting fatter. Yes, I was. Oh, don’t worry, don’t call the ambulance or anything. It was only a few pounds and then I started trimming it by eating lousy-tasting stuff instead of good-tasting stuff. Also by jogging. Well, I stopped jogging and started eating cake and cookies again, but the point is I could get thin again in a flash.
Two recent stories talk about how Americans are getting thinner, and . . . also fatter. One headline says, “Study Finds Americans Starting to Lose Weight.” The other says “Americans Getting Even Fatter.” I think the disparity has to do with how the samples are picked and over what period of time. Americans are no doubt fatter than we were back in the day certainly fatter than people in third-world countries who have trouble getting enough food. At the same time, most of us Americans get to live into our 70s. For the same reason we’re so fat: we’re so rich. Which also gives us time to exercise. You know, exercise is the best diet: if you burn more calories than you take in, you lose pounds. It all boils down to a simple scientific equation.
Is our fattiness a problem? Well, not for me I can lose the pounds in a snap. It is a problem if I have to start paying for somebody else’s fat problem. We’re turning into a nanny society, which does worry me. Heck, soon we’ll have people suing McDonald’s for allegedly making people fat. Oops . . . can’t predict that any more. It’s already happened.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.