Food Fight

By David Satcher

A century ago, being overweight often was a superficial sign of prosperity and good living. High-society dinners of the Gilded Age, for example, consisted of four, five, six, and sometimes even more courses: caviar, pâté de foie gras, oysters, terrapin, game. Such dinners certainly gave new meaning to the 1899 phrase "conspicuous consumption." But why not live it up if you could, when you could? After all, the life expectancy in 1900 was only about 47 years.



Fortunately, few people ate so lavishly then, and since the Gilded Age, we have been able to peer beneath the surface to understand the effects of nutrition—good and bad—on the human body. In addition, advances in science and medicine have nearly eliminated in America the infectious diseases that reached epidemic proportions a hundred years ago. Despite opening with an average life span of about 47 years, the 20th century closed with a life expectancy of about 77 years.

What took a century to attain, however, could be undermined in a few decades if we do not respond to the 21st century's own epidemic: obesity. As a nation, we have made serious strides inimproving our health in terms of infectious diseases, heart problems, and several forms of cancer, but we have failed when it comes to recognizing and addressing our overweight. The Age of Girth has displaced the Gilded Age. Then, few people enjoyed overeating and indulgence; now most of us are swayed by supersizes. And the bicycle craze of a hundred years ago has been replaced by the...

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