Meat and livestock producers were traditionally rewarded for fatter carcasses by having prices determined by total weight and/or fat content. Dairy producers also received greater incomes from higher milk fat content. However, public demand for lower-fat products has caused a shift away from prices based on fat. The public shift towards chicken meant an increase in the production of poultry. This led to an increase in battery hen farming, and as a result of the reduced activity of the birds (which were previously free range), the fat content of poultry seems to have increased significantly.

In the meantime, public demand led other meat producers to significantly reduce the fat content of their product, through different farming, butchering and marketing practices. Lean pork, beef and lamb are now highly comparable with poultry in fat content, and in some cases, lower in fat. Hence changes in the food supply can influence changes in the availability and use of products likely to facilitate increases in obesity and this has become a targeted activity of the public health lobby.

Food processing and supply is also influenced by the market place and public policy. Requirements for labelling of fat content of packaged foods accompanied by public education campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of rattening and non-fattening products, can help reduce their demand and in turn put pressure on food producers to modify the supply. Programs like Tick the Tick’4 also bring nutrition into the equation for manufacturers and making the product eligible to achieve the tick endorsement becomes the goal for which manufacturers can aim.

Fast food outlets have increased their turnover dramatically in Western countries, with an estimated 1 in 3 meals now reportedly purchased outside the home. Per capita consumption of takeaway foods has increased by 10 per cent per year since 1984, with a total annual market in Australia in 1994 of $5 billion. Approximately $540 per capita is also spent per year on snack foods, compared to $506 on fruit and vegetables. Government policy in the form of incentives, as well as disincentives (such as taxes) for the production and sale of reduced-fat takeaways is one future option to slow down the increases in obesity.

Public education campaigns are also necessary at this level to help develop skills for choosing and preparing food. A very important accompaniment to such education efforts are attempts to improve the food choice in places where people eat, such as school and work canteens, lunch bars and institutions such as hospitals and boarding schools. Even small changes, such as not automatically buttering baked goods, may have a major impact, simply because of the volume of people eating in these settings, and work to this effect must be a priority for health authorities.

The options for energy/fat expenditure in a society can also be influenced at a macro environmental level. As technology advances, with increases in the number and type of effort saving devices both in the workplace and in the community, the need for daily movement is reduced. The development of motor vehicles and other transport options, for example, has reduced the need to walk. For many people, men in particular, the work environment offered the main opportunity for physical activity. Even twenty to thirty years ago many jobs required some degree of physical effort, but the development and increasing sophistication of machinery continues to reduce this significantly. Decrease in work place activity is often given as one of the main reasons for the increases in fatness of working class men in recent times. Ifs interesting to note that only a little more than twenty years ago, white collar workers were generally fatter than blue collar workers. But in some ‘blue collar’ areas like industrial cities, 3 in 4 men are now regarded as overweight or obese compared to 1 in 4 amongst ‘white collar’ men.

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Myth-information. Figure wrapping is claimed by some commercial organisations to reduce body fat because of ’secret’ herbal mixes applied before wrapping. Physiologically these have no effect on lipolysis. Any weight loss effect in the short term is due to fluid losses alone.

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In 1993, Phyllis went on a special low-fat, low-salt diet after undergoing cardiac bypass surgery. She followed the diet to the letter. To her pleasant surprise, her weight dropped from 130 pounds to 114 pounds in about 3 months and stayed there for several years.

So the Morristown, New Jersey, woman was understandably puzzled when, in 1997, her clothes started feeling a little snug. She was cooking and eating all the right foods, and she worked out three or four times a week at a local health club. Plus, her job as a department store saleswoman kept her on her feet constantly.

“I was doing all the right things, yet I was still gaining weight,” she says. “I couldn’t figure out why.”

Then one day, while eating a bagel, Phyllis picked up the package and read the nutrition label. She discovered that one of those big, doughy delectables equaled four servings of bread. “I was shocked,” she says. “I had always counted it as just one serving.”

That incident prompted Phyllis to check out the labels of some other foods that she ate regularly. She found more of the same: What she considered one serving was actually two or three—some- | ^ times more.

“It became clear why I was gaining weight,” Phyllis says. “I started paying closer attention to my serving sizes, even measuring portions when I needed to. It made a big difference almost immediately. My weight dropped back down to where it belonged.”

Now age 70, Phyllis remains vigilant about her serving sizes. And it shows: Her weight is once again holding steady at 114 pounds. “I’m glad that I figured out why I was gaining,” she says. “I worked hard to slim down, and I wasn’t about to let all that effort go to waste.”

WINNING ACTION

Read those labels! Even low-fat and fat-free foods can cause you to gain weight if you eat too much of them. What they lack in fat they more than make up for in calories. So pay attention to the labels on packaged and processed foods.

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