How much do we contribute to obesity? Something to think about as you sit down for your Christmas dinner today. Today it is estimated that there are more than 300 million obese people world-wide in both developed and developing countries. It's an epidemic.
According to a new paper from INSEAD business school the marketers of food should be blamed for this epidemic. "Marketers are closely involved with the process of producing the food, by helping to make the decisions about composition and quantity of the product. Since marketers recognise that consumers enjoy the taste of sugar, fat and salt, marketers have convinced food producers to add these ingredients to a wide range of food items. Setting low prices on foods is perhaps the strongest marketing factor that has increased consumption. Prices of foods – particularly processed, high-calorie foods – have been going down for decades now. Transformed foods, particularly those with high concentrations of sugar and fat, experienced the steepest declines. The price of food prepared away from home has also declined significantly over the years. Studies suggest that prices of food items from vending machines have declined fastest of all. Consumers have access to plenty of cheap, calorie-dense foods such as soft drinks, fast food and snacks. In times of recession, sales of "Dollar Meals" and other low-cost, high-calorie fast foods boom. But the lines between rich and poor blur when it comes to taste. In the past, people may have connected lower prices to poorer food quality and taste."
More alarmingly, it looks like junk food will be easier to advertise with Republicans in Congress successfully lobbying against guidelines designed to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods.
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