J. Eric Oliver, a polysci professor at the University of Chicago, believes, countervailing prevailing wisdom, that prejudice and discrimination against fatness actually cause more problems than fat itself. “Rather than worry about how fat our country is, we should be asking ourselves why we are so judgmental about how much other people weigh.” He has a point, until you think about the difference between fat and morbidly obese and the consequences of going from one to the other.

David Cutler, a professor of economics at Harvard, believes technology holds the answers. He hopes it might someday progress to a point at which “we can produce non-fat food as readily as fat food,” or that we’ll develop new drugs to treat diabetes and high cholesterol, improve hip and knee replacements, and put new arthritis medications on the market. This is a world I hope to leave long before seeing.  

Darwin Deen, a professor of family medicine, notes that portion sizes have increased but that Americans are not exercising more. I can’t believe The New York Times subsidized the 398 words it took him to say something so obvious.

Lisa Hark, the director of the UPenn School of Medicine’s Nutrition Education and Prevention Program (Does anyone else think Nutrition Prevention is a counterintuitive name?) thinks kids should watch less TV and spend less time at a computer and playing video games. She believes the family meal is crucial to healthy lifestyles, and being a healthy role model for a child is the best way for them to follow suit. Snore.

The two non-academics on the list made me perk up a bit. Matt Verbin, the founder of the web’s Obesity Forum, believes that “what truly makes obesity an epidemic is the economic impact it has on all of us.” Obesity costs the US $93 billion in health care (an out-of-pocket tax cost of $180 for every American), and businesses lose $13 billion a year from obesity-related medical fees, decreased productivity and absenteeism. “The question is, do we invest a lot of time and money fighting obesity now, or pay an even higher price down the road?” Good question.

David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health, has the answer I think rings closest to truth. He points out that the most radically different thing about our lives today is our food, and blames high-fructose corn syrup on the 200 extra calories we now eat per day, compared to 30 years ago. “Our bellies are growing in direct relation to…the size of the ingredient lists on our packages.” Amen, brother. 

It took Michael Pollan only six words to sum up the way America could avoid getting fatter: “Eat food. Not much. Mostly plants.” Amen, squared.