Last month I came across a reference to an article written by Helen Walls, a professor in the public health field, who has taught in Australia. I was unable to get the article from my usual sources and emailed her directly. She did send the article, which I read and enjoyed. In the article, she provides some historical data on health policy for different countries. She explains when public health action was necessary to protect individuals. Several suggestions regarding today and obesity were meaningful to me, but one led me to write to her again. She said,
Despite recent media attention, the public remains poorly informed, often considering obesity to be an individual problem, requiring only diet restrictions and self control.
She added that the food industry tries to minimize the results of research that might suggest otherwise, and instead focuses the public's attention on the need to exercise more. This adds to the confusion. She noted that in the past, the public's acceptance of an issue as a crisis has been the turning point for action.
As public recognition of a 'crisis' often precedes regulatory intervention, better communication about the 'crisis' of obesity, demonstrating the environment's influence on individual attitudes and behaviors, may help generate support.
This idea of increasing the public's perception of the magnitude of the problem called to mind the IOM/CDC/HBO collaboration on the documentary Weight of the Nation. I wrote Dr. Walls and asked if she thought that was the intention of the documentaries. She had been traveling - relocating or returning to London and had not seen the series yet. But in her reply, she let me know that the article I read was being published on line. It was published a few days ago. I encourage you to read it here.
