[Pete]

In all seriousness, there is a legitimate question as to why more people are overweight today than 50 or even 30 years ago. As far as I know, and I lived in the South for 16 years, Southerners have always eaten the food many describe. So, why all of a sudden does it make them fat?

I believe it is related to what is in the food. For example, instead of sugar, most companies now use high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). That is a fundamental change and many suspect it is a major culprit. This guy blogs on it here.

He also has an interesting article on government corn subsidies, which gets at the heart of why companies made the switch from cane sugar to HFCS.

I mean it when I say that if you haven't delved into the the whole HFCS issue, you will be shocked when you do.

[Scythian]

DEEP FRIED OKRA

[rockrr]

Yours, of course, is the correct response. If the author had been a bit more honest and a bit less regionally bigoted it would have been the central theme of the essay.

I see much more obesity around me than I did 20 years ago. I’ve always chalked it up to poor eating habits and not enough exercise, combined with highly processed foods, but I’m not so sure anymore.

I think you’re on to something about the food industry and “better living through chemistry”. I see too many folks who are active (ie. working their butts off), eating more moderately, and still heavy.

I also see a ton (pun intended) of folks who simply don’t give a damn...

[Ditter]

While HFCS could be a factor, I think the automobile has made us fat. People don’t walk anymore they drive. I used to see people walking to the store, riding their bicycle to work. Lots of places don’t have sidewalks and the traffic is awful, it’ dangerous to walk. Everyone has a car or catches a ride. Some people walk and run around the track but they drive their car to the track and home again. It’s been 100+ degrees for weeks, I don’t want to walk anyplace, thank God I don’t have to and I’m not fat I’m fluffy.

[Albion Wilde]

Southerners have always eaten the food many describe. So, why all of a sudden does it make them fat? I believe it is related to what is in the food. For example, instead of sugar, most companies now use high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). That is a fundamental change and many suspect it is a major culprit.

That's an excellent theory. That, plus all of today's packaged and prepared convenience foods contain more sugars, fats and salt. There's the lack of hard agricultural work, the airconditioning and driving, and high percentage of African-Americans (who appear prone to putting on weight), or perhaps it is the poverty factor, where people eat more carbs like rice, white bread and biscuits, potatoes and pork by-products because they are cheap and filling. I think we're summing it up.