should the government regulate fast food essay

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Should more governments take aim at fast food?

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Policies that counter fast food consumption might offer governments a way to tackle the growing obesity epidemic, a new study proposes.

The research is the first to look at the effects of deregulation in the economy and increases in fast food transactions and BMIs over time.

The findings show that fast food purchases were independent predictors of increases in the average body mass index (BMI) in the United States and 24 other wealthy nations from 1999 to 2008.

Nations with stronger government regulations—such as producer protection, price controls, intervention on competition, and taxes—experienced slower increases in fast food purchases and average BMIs.

“Unless governments take steps to regulate their economies, the ‘invisible hand of the market’ will continue to promote obesity worldwide with disastrous consequences for future public health and economic productivity,” says Roberto De Vogli, associate professor in the department of public health sciences at the University of California, Davis.

Rather than looking at the density of fast food outlets or self-reported fast food consumption as researchers have done in the past, De Vogli and colleagues compared data on fast food transactions per capita with figures on BMI, a standard measure of body fat based on height and weight. A person with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, while a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.

Published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization , the study focuses on high-income countries, but the findings are also relevant to developing countries as “virtually all nations have undergone a process of market deregulation and globalization—especially in the last three decades,” De Vogli says.

Unhealthy weight is widespread

While the average number of annual fast food transactions per capita increased from 26.61 to 32.76, average BMI increased from 25.8 to 26.4. Thus, each 1-unit increase in the average number of annual fast food transactions per capita was associated with an increase of 0.0329 in BMI over the study period.

The BMI figures revealed that the problem of unhealthy weight is widespread; people living in all 25 countries included in the study were, on average, overweight.

The average number of annual fast food transactions per capita increased in all 25 countries. The sharpest increases were in Canada (by 16.6 transactions per capita), Australia (14.7), Ireland (12.3) and New Zealand (10.1), Norway (9.0), and the US (8.6), while the lowest increases were in countries with more stringent market regulation, including Italy (1.5), the Netherlands (1.8), Greece (1.9), Belgium (2.1), Portugal (2.6), and Spain (3.4).

“It’s not by chance that countries with the highest average BMIs and fast food purchases are those in the forefront of market liberalization,” De Vogli says. “Whereas countries with lower average BMIs and fewer fast food transactions have some of the tightest controls on food economies.”

Increases in BMIs could not be explained by increases in animal fat consumption or total calories, which remained close to constant over the course of the study.

“This was surprising,” De Vogli says. “Fast food tends to be high in animal fats, which have been linked to unhealthy weight. The only factor that can partially explain the BMI increases is soft drink purchases.”

Future research should focus on categorizing food items according to levels of processing instead of fats and calories, which could help identify the specific determinants of overweight and obesity, De Vogli says.

“The next step will be to study in detail what is done with food and how those processes alter calorie and nutrient content along with health.”

Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center and Queen’s University in Belfast contributed to the study, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK.

Source: UC Davis

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Should The Government Regulate Fast Food Consumption | Argumentative Essay

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Will Regulating Fast Food Restaurants Really Help Poor People?

Eating fast food is frequently blamed for damaging our health.  It is not the healthiest type of meal since it is typically high in fat and salt.  Because of this some government officials have considered regulating parts of the fast food industry to improve public health and reduce health inequalities across society.

Regulating fast food locations to improve health among low income Americans rests partly on a key assumption: that fast food is primarily eaten by poor people, who cannot afford nutritious but more expensive food.  Mark Bittman in the New York Times, summed it up nicely: “The ‘fact’ that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes.”

Our recently published research examined this assumption by looking at who eats fast food using a large nationwide random sample.  What we found surprised us.  The poor don’t eat the most fast food.  Instead, the middle class do.  Moreover, the difference between the proportion of rich people and poor people who eat fast food was quite small.  It seems when you ask people if they ate at a fast food restaurant like McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Taco Bell last week, the majority of rich, poor and middle class said “yes.”

Who Eats Fast Food?

In retrospect, the fact that everyone eats fast food should not have been surprising.  There are rich and famous people, like President Donald Trump , who state they are fans of fast food .  Trump even made a commercial for McDonalds in 2002 extolling the virtues of their hamburgers.  President Bill Clinton was so fond of fast food, Saturday Night Live created a skit parodying his visits to McDonald’s.

Our research didn’t look at famous people. Instead it used a cross-section of young baby boomers living in the U.S from all walks of life.  Thousands of respondents were asked by interviewers how often they ate fast food during three different week-long periods.  Overall, 79% of the respondents said they ate fast food at least once.

Breaking the respondents down by their income did not show big differences.  Among the ten percent with the highest income, about 75% ate fast food at least once in a three-week period.  The corresponding figure for the poorest ten percent was 81%.  Both numbers are not very different from the 85% rate for people with incomes in the middle.

We also found that people whose income or wealth changed dramatically up or down during our study period didn’t change their fast-food eating habits.  This suggests becoming richer or poorer doesn’t have much impact on how often people eat fast food.

If fast food isn’t particularly healthy, then why do so many people eat it?  Our research confirms people eat it because it’s fast and convenient.  We find the more hours someone works the more likely they are to eat fast food, regardless of their income or wealth.

Attempts to Fix Public Nutrition

These results suggest focusing on preventing poor people from having access to fast food may be misguided.  For example, Los Angeles in 2008 banned new freestanding fast food restaurants from opening in the poor neighborhoods of South L.A.   The reason for the ban was because “fast-food businesses in low-income areas, particularly along the Southeast Los Angeles commercial corridors, intensifies socio-economic problems in the neighborhoods, and creates serious public health problems.”

While research suggests this ban did not work these fights over food continue today.  Donald Trump clearly has different eating habits than his predecessor, Barrack Obama.  Because of this shift in presidential attitudes toward food and government’s role in society the Trump administration is rolling back Obama’s nutritional regulations on school lunches and new labeling requirements for restaurants and other food providers.

Fast Food Industry

The type and number of regulations are important because fast food restaurants are big business in the US.  The latest figures from 2012 show there are over 120,000 franchised limited service restaurants, employing about 2.6 million people.  These stores had sales of around $130 billion, which means about $400 in yearly sales for each person living in the US.

The data on the fast food industry highlight one important reason why the poor do not eat more fast food. Meals in these restaurants are not cheap in absolute terms.  The typical limited service restaurant meal costs over eight dollars .  Fast food is cheap only in comparison to eating in a full-service restaurant.

Moreover, this eight dollar figure is quite high compared to the US poverty line, which for a family of two is a bit above $16,000 , or about $44 per day.  It is doubtful a poor family of two is willing to constantly spend an average of $16 on eating a single fast food meal, since it i over one-third of their daily income.

Our goal is not to be fast food cheerleaders.  We do not doubt that a diet high in fast food is unhealthy.  We do doubt that the poor eat fast food more than anyone else.

If politicians are really trying to help improve the health of the poor, limiting fast food restaurants in low income neighborhoods is not the way to go.  Our research shows that drinking soda is associated with increase fast-food consumption.  Soda taxes could lower intake of sugary drinks and fast food, but these goods are often bundled together as value meals and the tax faces stiff oppos ition from well-funded sources.

We also find that checking ingredients is associated with lower fast-food intake, while working more hours raises fast-food consumption.   This suggests that making it easier for Americans to learn what is in their food could help sway consumers away from fast food and toward healthier eating options. More importantly, policies to make nutritious foods more convenient would help offset the lure of fast food.  It’s hard to choose nutritious foods if they are not available and affordable.

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Government Regulation Of Fast Food Argumentative Essay

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Government , Food , Company , Politics , Law , Health , Obesity , United States

Words: 1300

Published: 11/14/2019

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Obesity is becoming an epidemic in America – more than 30% of childhood diabetes cases are Type 2, a condition typically caused by poor diet (Zinczenko, 2002). The American fast food culture contributes to this level of obesity, as the combination of affordability, taste and convenience makes it easier for a family of any income level to feed themselves on fast food – however, it then becomes the responsibility of the individual to regulate their diet. Given the obesity statistics in American as they exist today, this is clearly not an option for many. What’s more, fast food companies are not providing people with the tools they need to combat this epidemic. As a result, government regulation of fast food companies in order to increase nutrition and health awareness must take place.

Current plans for government regulation include mandates on food quality, portion control, and healthier options for fast food restaurants, in a $200 million budget plan (Balko, 2004). Soda in vending machines would be banned, as well as potato chips and other fatty snacks, in schools around the country. A fat tax on high-calorie foods has also been proposed as well, making fast food companies pay more for the privilege of serving their food to the average American. That would presumably drive prices up and convince many Americans to seek other alternatives (Balko, 2004).

As it stands today, many people are fed on fast food multiple times a day (Zinczenko, 2002). These companies provide quickly made, good-tasting food that is affordable to eat, many popular establishments allowing you to feed yourself for a dollar. Due to corn subsidies making sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup cheap, more and more people are turning to fast food as the viable way to feed a low-income family. The increasingly fast pace of American lifestyles also makes taking the time to cook healthier meals much less available, making even active and affluent individuals turn to fast food in order to find the convenient way to feed themselves.

While health and fitness is something that most Americans are tangentially aware of, many of them are not implementing proper diet and exercise methods. This stems from a number of factors, not the least of which is the prevalence of fast food restaurants in an urban setting. The visibility of these restaurants makes it far easier to find a hamburger than fruits or vegetables (Zinczenko, 2002). There is also the American cultural tie to hamburgers, hot dogs, and other food associated with holidays, as well as the relative affluence of American citizens, that makes it possible for these fatty foods to become the affordable choice in many people’s minds. In fact, it has now become somewhat more expensive to buy healthy, organic food. For a fiscally-minded American citizen, it is much cheaper to feed yourself and your family at the drive-thru than to make a salad from scratch (Zinczenko, 2002).

There are those who say that government regulation of fast food is unnecessary and a direct infringement of personal liberty, especially in regards to what is put in our bodies. Many claim that the food we eat is the one thing above all that must not be regulated or socialized (Balko, 2004). The very idea of controlling our food options and preventing private businesses from selling their products due to an absence of willpower and restraint on the part of the consumer. However, according to government, and the obesity statistics found in this country, it is clear that, despite the current attempts at health and fitness awareness being performed in America, many citizens are not exercising their personal liberty to eat healthier foods and exercise more. What’s more, taxpayers on the whole are paying for the poor decisions of the obese few, as more medical treatment and health/fitness education is required in order to properly educate them on the dangers of high-calorie diets. As a result, government intervention must take place in order to facilitate the needed increase in health of American citizens.

One thing that must be considered is the fact that American citizens do not exactly know the nutrition information of the fast food they are eating. As a result, they are not properly educated on what their food provides in terms of calories or sodium. Government regulation of fast food companies could include steps such as the implementation of packaging complete with nutrition information. There is some nutrition information provided currently, but it is mostly inaccurate fudging, using deceptive language to omit ingredients and shrink serving sizes to make a meal seem more nutritious than it is (Zinczenko, 2002). This will allow the consumer to see what they are eating and its nutritional value (or lack thereof). Greater awareness of what people are putting into their bodies can push them toward a healthier lifestyle, and as fast food companies -are not doing it themselves, the government may have to make them do it.

A unique way to look at the intervention of government in the diets of the American people is an investment in the future and health of its citizens. In order to have a functioning economy, military, or government, its citizens must be in appropriate physical health, so they can operate at optimum condition. With government regulation of fast food, individuals can be made more aware of better lifestyle choices, become more active, and therefore possess higher levels of energy and greater productivity. This way, they can apply that energy to the continuation and prosperity of the country at large.

Some can argue that the intervention of government is unnecessary, as fast food companies are already starting to carry healthier options, such as apple slices and salads. However, their primary fast food items are still being prominently displayed, and there is a decided lack of advertisement regarding their healthier options, especially when compared to the main items like cheeseburgers. The insertion of these stopgap measures to introduce health to their customers seems like a half-hearted appeasement to those calling for healthier foods. Drastic steps must be taken if, despite these healthier options, American citizens are not taking them and continuing their path to obesity.

The number of lawsuits levied against fast food companies by individuals showcases a certain lack of responsibility in both parties – both at the plaintiff for not exercising appropriate common sense and portion control in their diet, and the fast food company for not offering the proper information needed for the consumer to educate themselves. With this in mind, government is the one option left to step in and work to prevent these situations from occurring in the first place. Government mandates on fast food nutrition information and food quality will help to diminish accountability in these lawsuits, as fast food companies are still following these regulations. This helps to protect them from these litigious customers, and so the fast food industry should welcome this intervention.

In conclusion, public health is a governmental concern – the needs of its people must be considered, and if industry and the individual are not willing to take the appropriate steps to stave off obesity and poor health habits, the government is the only entity left that can take these measures. In the event fast food companies were to take better responsibility of their customer base, or personal responsibility for one’s own health were better cared for, then these steps would be unnecessary. Due to the prevalence of obesity in this country, however, and the social and economic factors that prevent viable alternatives from being as affordable and readily available, the intervention of government into the fast food industry must be allowed.

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Government Regulation of the Food Business Essay

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Introduction

With the cost of living rising, more Americans have more than one job and as a result, they have less time to eat or even prepare a decent meal. Most of them operate under tight schedules moving from one job to the other as they try to cope with the economic hardships.

As a result, more and more Americans (from children to adults) are now taking fast foods which are not healthy and this has led to complains that Americans are becoming fatter and fatter as years move on.

As a result, health conscious people have been advocating for the government to regulate the food business an issue which has faced both support and opposition from different sectors. The question which rings in many discussions are “Should the government regulate the food industry”?

From my own opinion, I don’t think it would be advisable for the government to regulate the food business. Americans live in a free land where they are free to choose what to do as long as it does not harm other citizens. If someone chooses to visit a fast food joint to go and take his or her food, eat and then go to work, where is the problem there?

The individual does not have the time to go and prepare a decent meal since as the cost of living rise, many citizens have opted to multiple jobs in an effort to save and also pay their debts. May be if he had enough time he could have taken or prepared a decent meal.

As long as the government advises its citizens on the advantages of taking decent balanced meal, what ever they choose to take should be their own problem. They won’t become obese because they were forced to eat from a fast food they will become obese because it was their choice to eat from the fast food joint.

It’s their freedom and whatever happens to their bodies should be left for them to live with the consequences. Take for example of a person who works in four different jobs in a single day with the breaks from one to the other just being enough to allow them move from where they are working to the next.

What will make them not pass through a fast food joint and take something to eat before they can reach the other place of work? If the government regulates the food industry will this person not either lose the job by being a routine late comer and if he doest take the food will his productivity not go below the expected levels due to hunger resulting in losses or even being fired.

On the other hand, the US is a recognized capitalist country which allows markets to rule themselves freely without any government interference. The fast food is a big industry in the country and if there is nothing unhealthy that the industry is practicing, the government should then allow the theory of Laissez Faire to take control of the market.

The consumer is always right and knows what he or she wants to take and if it is their choice to take fast food, why should the government be concerned. What makes the government think that the consumer does not know the consequences of eating the food, don’t people smoke with the health warning on the packet staring in their eyes and informing them that smoking kills?

It is for the companies to decide either to make healthier foods but not for the government to interfere with their businesses. Let the markets rule themselves otherwise if the government regulates the food industry, some people will go jobless.

Whether the government should regulate the food industry or should not is an issue of discussion but from above we can conclude that the government should not regulate the food industry as in doing so it would be interfering with the lives of its free and independent citizens who have chosen fast food as their way of life.

Government interference with the food industry could lead to unemployment of its own citizens thus regulation by the government should be avoided and people should be allowed to choose what they eat no matter the consequences. It is their bodies and they know what they are doing.

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Tighter Regulation Of Fast Food Industry Could Help Curb Rising Obesity Rates, Study Says

Feb 04, 2014

News outlets report on a study published by the WHO that shows tighter government regulation of the fast food industry could help slow rising obesity rates.

Reuters : Study finds deregulation fueling obesity epidemic “Governments could slow or even reverse the growing obesity epidemic if they introduce more regulation into the global market for fast foods such as burgers, chips and fizzy drinks, researchers said in a report to be released Monday. A study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO) suggested that if governments took firmer action, they could start to prevent people becoming overweight and obese — conditions with serious long-term consequences such as diabetes, heart diseases and cancer…” (Kelland, 2/2).

The Hill’s “Regwatch” : Fast food regs could curb obesity, study finds “Tougher government regulations on the fast food industry could help curb a global obesity epidemic, researchers have concluded. A new study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO) links the explosion of the fast food industry to general increase in the body mass index (BMI) in wealthier countries…” (Goad, 2/3).

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SHOULD GOVERNMENT REGULATE THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRIES IN THE SAME WAY THAT REGULATES THE DRUG, ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO INDUSTRIES?

IELTS essay SHOULD GOVERNMENT REGULATE THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRIES IN THE SAME WAY THAT REGULATES THE DRUG, ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO INDUSTRIES?

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Government Control of Your Diet: Threats to “Freedom to Eat”

Select a Section 1 /0

Many politicians and self-appointed nutrition czars see Americans as incapable of making decisions about a basic necessity of life: eating. Therefore, they feel that government at all levels must try to control their diets. This control means trying to direct people to eat a certain way or expressly prohibiting or banning the consumption of certain foods.

Government should respect the voluntary choices made by individuals when it comes to their diets. The current path of government intervention is leading to greater restrictions on citizens’ freedoms that could eventually result in federal food bans.

The Government-Control Mindset

Two former Agriculture Secretaries, Dan Glickman and Ann Veneman, recently demonstrated the government-control mindset when writing about the Obamacare menu labeling requirement [1] :

But changing individual behavior is only possible when supported by an environment that helps make the healthy choice the easy choice.… When families go to restaurants, movie theaters, sports arenas and supermarkets, they should have the option to eat healthier food and the calorie information they need to make informed choices between various food options. [2]

The primary justification made for government intervention is the public’s inadequate information regarding nutrition. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims that inadequate information is a market failure justifying Obamacare’s menu labeling rule. [3]

In reality, the public already has plenty of information. Restaurants and other businesses respond to consumer demand for nutritional information. Entire industries are built around the public’s demand for dieting and healthy living, from diet sodas to weight-loss programs. The public is inundated with marketing messages regarding health and well-being. When people do not buy the “right” foods, this is not evidence of inadequate information; it is evidence of choices based on complex personal preferences.

Another justification made for government intervention is third-party health care costs. [4] The allegedly unhealthy habits raise costs for government health care programs; therefore, taxpayers supposedly have an interest in encouraging healthy living.

However, these costs exist because of government intervention. If there is a concern for taxpayer costs, government programs such as Medicare can be reformed accordingly. [5] For private third-party costs, government-imposed restrictions on private insurers and their coverage options can be lifted. Once the government intervention is removed, there are no health care costs to third parties.

Two U.S. Department of Agriculture economists captured the extreme implications of using increased taxpayer costs for health care as the basis for government intervention:

Tapping the public purse for health-care expenses does not by itself demonstrate an efficiency problem [i.e., a market failure]. If it did, there would be no end to the number of risky behaviors that we might want to discourage and no end to the public sector’s control over individual choices. Many activities, including skiing, unprotected sex, and home repairs involving power tools, raise health-care expenses. Eating raw oysters is clearly a more risky proposition than eating many other foods. [6]

Heads They Win, Tails You Lose

The government is actually concerned about a “public failure,” not a market failure, when it comes to dietary choices. The public is “failing” the government because the public is not doing what the government expects and wants people to do.

For example, when the FDA analyzed the Obamacare menu labeling rule, it acknowledged the competitiveness of the restaurant industry, consumer demand for nutrition information, and the fact that nutrition information is in fact provided to restaurant patrons. [7] This is all clear evidence that the market is working as intended.

The FDA, though, tried to look past this evidence. To the FDA, the nutrition information was not “sufficient” because the public did not take the FDA’s desired actions. [8] The FDA is working backwards.

If mandatory menu labeling does not work, this failure will likely be used as a justification for more intrusive government intervention, as illustrated by a recent USDA-funded study. Even though the authors acknowledged that their “results provide little hope that calorie recommendations will salvage the apparent weak or nonexistent effect of menu labeling in the field,” they recommended going further and suggested:

[Policies could include] the controversial use of bans or limits, but perhaps a more promising approach would be to incentivize restaurants and manufacturers to promote high-margin, healthier items. This could include, for example, a small discount for a person ordering a combo meal along with a diet soft drink or water rather than a regular soft drink. [9]

There is an underlying arrogance that presumes the government knows what is healthy. The food pyramid released in 1992 is evidence of what happens when the federal government simply tries to educate the public, even without imposing any mandates. The food pyramid recommendations were based on poor science, such as not distinguishing between good and bad fats and promoting a large consumption of carbohydrates. Politics also appeared to play a major role in the creation of the food pyramid, which was influenced by food special-interest groups. [10]

Ways to Stop the Food Ban Train

The nation is on a path toward federal food bans. New York City has already tried to impose a ban on sugary drinks in sizes larger than 16 ounces. A state appellate court shot down the ban on process grounds, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg has claimed he will take his fight to the highest New York court. [11]

Food bans may not even be the end. When the government can mandate individual action as it has in Obamacare, it is not far-fetched to think that it could try to mandate that people go to the gym or enroll in a diet program.

The only way to get off this path to food bans is for politicians at all levels of government to start respecting the private choices of individuals and to respect individual freedom. There are some lines the government should never cross. This certainly includes seeking to control what people eat. For instance, the federal government should:

• Stop creating and funding new labeling mandates and any other requirements that presume that consumers do not have the necessary information to make informed food choices.
• Prohibit federal funding to state and local governments that would be used to impose food bans. The federal government should not force taxpayers to subsidize these violations of individual freedom.

Respect Individual Liberty

The government should not intervene in the most basic and private aspects of our lives—even if there were some alleged indirect social cost. In a free society, people are entitled to live as they deem fit, especially in their personal lives, absent clear and direct harm to others. If the government can control what the public eats, it is difficult to imagine what it could not do.

—Daren Bakst is a Research Fellow in Agricultural Policy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.

[1] For a more detailed discussion of the Obamacare menu labeling requirement, see Daren Bakst, “Obamacare’s Menu Labeling Law: The Food Police Are Coming,” Heritage Foundation Issue Brief No. 4008, August 6, 2013, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/08/obamacare-s-menu-labeling-law-the-food-police-are-coming .

[2] Dan Glickman and Ann M. Veneman, “A Comprehensive Menu Labeling Standard Is Needed to Support Healthy Choices,” The Huffington Post, April 15, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-glickman/a-comprehensive-menu-labe_b_3086649.html (accessed August 26, 2013).

[3] Food and Drug Administration, Food Labeling: Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Preliminary Regulatory Impact Analysis , Docket No. FDA-2-11-F-0172, March 2011, p. 44, http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/UCM249276.pdf (accessed August 26, 2013).

[4] See, for example, Michael McCarthy, “The Economics of Obesity,” The Lancet , December, 2004, http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(04)17613-7/fulltext (accessed August 26, 2013).

[5] For some general Medicare reforms, see Robert E. Moffit, “The First Stage of Medicare Reform: Fixing the Current Program,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2611, October 17, 2011, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/10/the-first-stage-of-medicare-reform-fixing-the-current-program ; Robert E. Moffit, “The Second Stage of Medicare Reform: Moving to a Premium Support Program,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2626, November 28, 2011, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/11/the-second-stage-of-medicare-reform-moving-to-a-premium-support-program .

[6] Elise Golan and Fred Kuchler, “Is There a Role for Government in Reducing the Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity?,” Choices , 3rd Quarter, 2004, http://www.choicesmagazine.org/2004-3/obesity/2004-3-03.htm (accessed August 26, 2013). The economists were not officially writing on behalf of the USDA.

[7] FDA, Food Labeling .

[9] Julie S. Downs et al., “Supplementing Menu Labeling with Calorie Recommendations to Test for Facilitation Effects,” American Journal of Public Health , July 18, 2013, http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301218 (accessed August 26, 2013).

[10] Frontline , “Reassessing the Food Pyramid,” April 8, 2004, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/themes/pyramid.html (accessed August 29, 2013).

[11] See Daren Bakst, “NYC Soda Ban Shot Down Again: Bad Day for the Food Police,” The Heritage Foundation, The Foundry , http://blog.heritage.org/2013/08/01/nyc-soda-ban-shot-down-again-bad-day-for-the-food-police/ .

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Health care reform should be a patient-centered, market-based alternative that empowers individuals to control the dollars and decisions regarding their health care.

Health Care Choices and Premiums Under Obamacare: Numbers By State

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Food Policy Approaches to Obesity Prevention: An International Perspective

School of Community and Environmental Health, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA

Shiyong Liu

Department of Epidemology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214-8001, USA; Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, #55 Guanghuacun Street, Chengdu, Sichuan, China 610074

Department of Epidemology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214-8001, USA

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the recent obesity prevention–related food policies initiated in countries worldwide. We searched and reviewed relevant research papers and government documents, focusing on those related to dietary guidelines, food labeling, regulation of food marketing, and policies affecting food prices. We also commented on the effects and challenges of some of the related policy options. There are large variations regarding what, when, and how policies have been implemented across countries. Clearly, developed countries are leading the effort, and developing countries are starting to develop some related policies. The encouraging message is that many countries have been adopting policies that might help prevent obesity and that the support for more related initiatives is strong and continues to grow. Communicating information about these practices will help researchers, public health professionals, and policy makers around the world to take action to fight the growing epidemic of obesity and other nutrition-related diseases.

Introduction

Obesity has become a global epidemic, and its prevalence continues to increase. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1.4 billion adults and 40 million children are overweight, whereas more than 10% of people worldwide are obese [ 1 ]. Although obesity once was considered a health problem of developed countries, it has been increasing rapidly in developing countries, especially in urban settings and in high-income groups [ 1 , 2•• ]. Obesity increases the risk for a variety of noncommunicable, chronic diseases [ 3•• ].

Recent studies and reports from influential health organizations call on policy- and population-based approaches to change the “obesogenic” environment to fight the obesity epidemic [ 4 – 7 ]. Public health experts and advocacy organizations suggest that policy makers at various levels—local, regional, national, and international—take coordinated action to address obesity.

During the past decade, the United States and European countries implemented several policies that might contribute to the prevention of childhood obesity, including school-based policies, such as regulation of vending machines inside schools [ 8 ]; community-based ones, such as zoning to restrict fast food outlets [ 9 ]; food industry–based ones, such as calorie labeling and value sizing [ 10 ]; and broad, society-wide ones, such as regulating food advertising to young people [ 11 ]. Other countries also have been developing and implementing obesity prevention–related policies.

In this article, we review recent obesity prevention–related national and regional government food policies in selected countries that affect food systems and people's food consumption, such as national dietary guidelines and policies and regulations regarding food labeling, marketing, and pricing. We also comment on the effects and challenges of some related policy options. Communicating information about these practices may help researchers, public health professionals, and policy makers around the world to take action to fight the growing obesity epidemic as well as other nutrition-related diseases.

Conceptual Framework: Food Policy Options and the Need for Obesity Prevention

Globalization, including trade, culture, and personal exchanges and the development of economies and technologies, has brought the benefits of more abundant, affordable food; dramatic shifts in people's lifestyles; and improved health conditions for people in many countries worldwide. However, these changes also have fueled negative consequences, including more unhealthy eating patterns, sedentary lifestyles, and the growing global epidemic of obesity and other lifestyle-related noncommunicable chronic diseases [ 12•• ].

Obesity is the result of a positive energy balance that occurs when energy intake (from food consumption) exceeds energy expenditure (i.e., physical activity and inactivity). Some research suggests it might be easier and more effective to help people reduce their energy intake than increase their energy expenditure, although this is still a matter of debate. People's food consumption is affected by many individual (e.g., food preference), family (e.g., family income), and social factors (e.g., food availability and food prices) as well as some international factors, such as global trade policies. Several food policy options have been proposed, and various policies have been implemented by different countries to promote healthy diets. The NOURISHING framework provides a useful approach for adopting food policies that promote healthy diets [ 13•• ]. To improve food consumption and prevent obesity, related food policies would aim to increase (decrease) the availability, affordability, and acceptability of healthy (unhealthy) food choices in various settings (e.g., home, school, workplace, and community).

The development and implementation of national and regional government food policies also are affected by multiple factors, including culture, tradition, the political system, and the support of various stakeholders within a society. Successful behavior changes can be achieved only through synergistic interactions and the interoperability of policies from different constituent systems. Ideal policy design at all levels should render a seamless platform targeting individual behavior. Policies should be designed to change the context in which the undesired dietary patterns occur, that is, the food environment individuals confront daily. Attempts to change the food environment must address the food system, which should be overhauled and reengineered to create a healthy food environment. To sustain the desired behavioral change, continuous education and training must be provided to equip individuals with the necessary knowledge and skills to adapt to the new environment. Achieving synergy among all these factors and policies requires institution of enforcement measures and administrative oversight from local and national governments.

High-leverage policies are intended to change original structures and create a context in which people have less chance to form or maintain undesired behaviors. For example, restricting fast foods in school cafeterias can make unhealthy food inaccessible to children, whereas school policies on nutrition education can equip students with more skills and knowledge about how to balance their energy intake and expenditure in such a changing food environment. This dual approach in children actually increases their resilience when faced with unhealthy consumption environments in adulthood. However, most policies target only one aspect of the food environment, thus failing to harness the power of more systematic policy adoptions that might affect more significant changes in unhealthy food environments.

Figure 1 illustrates the complex food policy environment and the interactive policy approaches to obesity prevention. Note, however, that there often is overlap among the domains of food policy options. We propose this conceptual model based on those proposed by other researchers and related research in the field, including the NOURISHING framework [ 13•• ].

Obesity Prevention–Related Food Policy Implemented by Countries Worldwide

Although it is extremely challenging, if not impossible, to provide an exhaustive list of all relevant food policies implemented by countries to prevent obesity, increasing research helps provide greater understanding of such practices worldwide. For example, some reports presented at the recent Bellagio Conference on Program and Policy Options for Preventing Obesity in Low- and Middle-Income Countries provide some useful insights [ 12•• ]. Our team searched related papers published in recent years. We also searched government and organizational Web sites for related policy documents and reports to identify food-related policies relevant to obesity prevention. We provide numerous examples based on research and government reports to which we have had access. Because of the scope of the research, we did not attempt to provide an exhaustive list of all food-related policies worldwide.

Table 1 summarizes recent food policy changes in 22 countries or regions in terms of national nutrition education efforts (i.e., dietary guidelines), school-focused food policy, food labeling, food marketing, and food pricing. We highlight the practices of some countries in the following sections. In many countries, issuing national dietary guidelines has become standard practice during the past three decades, aiming to promote healthy diets for good health. These efforts also help in obesity prevention. School-related policies aimed at preventing childhood obesity have drawn the strongest support and have been implemented in many countries with more success than that achieved by other types of food policies.

National Public Nutrition Education: Dietary Guidelines

Nutrition education is important to help facilitate desirable health behavioral changes and promote healthy diets, including those aimed at preventing obesity. Many countries have developed dietary guidelines during the past two decades, with the United States leading this effort. Such dietary guidelines help increase public awareness of nutritional needs and facilitate nutrition education at multiple levels and in different settings. At present, more than 60 developed and developing countries from each continent have created their own national dietary guidelines [ 14 ]. For example, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Agriculture (USDA), developed and published Dietary Guidelines for Americans , which has been revised every 5 years since 1980, with the most recent edition published in 2010. This seventh edition was published with a new emphasis on balanced energy intake and maintaining a healthy weight (i.e., for obesity prevention). These guidelines provide authoritative advice for people 2 years and older regarding how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce the risk of major chronic diseases, and they serve as the basis for federal food and nutrition education programs. Some other countries developed their guidelines based on practices in the United States. Promoting fruit and vegetable consumption has become an important role of nutrition education because of the many benefits of adequate fruit and vegetable consumption, including helping to reduce the risk of many diet-related diseases and obesity. National campaigns in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany aim to increase daily consumption of fruits and vegetables among their populations. A good example is the “5 A Day” program in the United States, which encourages people to consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. National and local governments of some countries provide specific funding to support such programs.

Nutrition Labeling for Food Packages

Nutrition labeling may play an important role in helping consumers choose healthy food by informing them about its nutritional content. Therefore, policy makers in many continents are pushing for legislation requiring nutrition labeling on food packages and in restaurants [ 15• ]. Some preliminary evidence suggests that such labeling may influence food choices and improve the intake of fat, sugar, and sodium in some populations [ 16 , 17 ], although the effectiveness of these policies is still inconclusive [ 18 , 19 ].

Countries in Europe and Oceania have placed emphasis on nutrition labeling. Since 1989, the Nordic countries, including Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, have adopted a “keyhole” symbol to indicate healthier food choices [ 20 ]. Moreover, abundant labeling systems are available in European countries, including multiple back-of-pack and front-of-pack labels. One study compared labeling systems in four European countries (the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands) and suggested that a simple front-of-pack label might help consumers make healthier choices during the short time frame in which they typically make purchasing decisions [ 21 ].

Recently, more countries have adopted a simpler, easy-to-identify labeling system. For example, in June 2013, the Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom launched a voluntary “traffic light,” front-of-pack labeling system [ 22 ]. In this labeling system, red, yellow, and green labels correspond to high, medium, and low percentages of fat, saturated fat, salt, sugar, and total energy in the food product. The color coding makes this nutrition information more visible. Although the new system covers only 60% of foods, it is considered a big step toward a clear and consistent way to label food [ 23 ].

Similarly, in June 2013, ministers in Australia and New Zealand approved a voluntary health star rating system to replace the Daily Intake Guide [ 24 ]. In this front-of-pack labeling system, highly nutritious foods are given higher star ratings, whereas foods with less nutritional value are given lower star ratings. The star rating scale, from one half to five stars, will be printed on the front of food packages. The nutrition label also will include information on sugar, saturated fat, sodium, and energy contained in the food [ 24 ]. Compliance with the health star rating system will be of interest to researchers, because its voluntary adoption immediately met some resistance. For example, cheese and other dairy products may contain high levels of saturated fat. Thus, the dairy industry was worried that the labeling would affect the consumer's choice. However, the ministers stand firm in promoting the health star rating system and are prepared to make it mandatory if implementation of the current policy is not successful. More scientific evidence is needed to support the adoption of a stricter policy on food labeling.

Some developing countries also are catching up with their own front-of-pack nutrition labeling systems. For example, the Thai Food and Drug Administration (Thai FDA) adopted a new nutrition labeling system in August 2011 that provides Guideline Daily Amounts for energy, sugar, fat, and sodium [ 25 ]. The labeling system is voluntary for most food groups but mandatory for snack foods, including potato chips, popcorn, rice crisps, crackers, and filling wafers. The Thai system is similar to the front-of-pack labeling systems adopted in the United Kingdom and Australia but without obvious coding, such as colors or stars. It will be worth investigating how the different coding systems used by these countries will influence consumers in their food choices.

Interestingly, the United States has not adopted a national policy or regulations regarding front-of-pack labels, which remain voluntary. Many US food industries have adopted the “Facts Up Front” system, which labels the amount of saturated fat, calories, sugar, and sodium per serving [ 23 ]. Unlike the front-of-pack labeling system in other countries, the US “Facts Up Front” system also can mention up to two beneficial nutrients, such as vitamins. However, support from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been cautious: a simple front-of-pack label may help consumers, but it also may make consumers skip the more detailed nutrition information provided on back-of-pack labels [ 26 , 27 ]. This government position reflects the lack of consistent research evidence regarding the optimal labeling system.

To promote healthy eating and help reduce diet-related diseases, China enacted national regulations for food labeling in 2008. The Chinese Food Nutrition Labeling standards regulate the labeling of food regarding its nutrients and calories [ 28 ]. Before the regulations took effect in 2013, the practice of food labeling was rare. For example, our team conducted a study during 2007 and 2008 based on the nutrition information of prepackaged foods collected in two supermarkets in Shanghai and Beijing, the two largest cities in China [ 29 ]. The results indicated that the overall labeling rate was not significantly different between the two cities in the two sampled supermarkets (Shanghai, 30.9%, vs. Beijing, 29.7%). We also noted that nutrition labeling of snacks was scarce (20.5%) in both locations, and the percentage of food items labeled was even lower (saturated fat, 8.6%; trans-fatty acids, 4.7%; fiber, 2.1%). The very low food nutrition labeling rate, even among products sold in large chain supermarkets in these two major cities of China, before the regulations took effect illustrates the need for such critical regulations to be implemented to enforce industrial compliance with accurate nutrition labeling.

Menu Nutrition Labeling for Food Provided in Restaurants

Studies indicate that consumers increase their energy intake when eating away from home compared with eating at home, usually because foods in restaurants or other food outlets contain more calories and fat and less fiber [ 30 ]. Therefore, public health advocacy groups have long argued for expansion of nutrition labeling to cover food items sold in restaurants [ 15• , 31 ]. In the United States, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 has required calorie and nutritional labeling in chain restaurants, retail food establishments, and vending machines [ 32 ]. The FDA, the government agency charged with implementing the act, has submitted the proposed regulations for public input.

Ahead of the US federal regulations, some pioneering cities and states already adopted similar regulations, such as New York City in 2008 [ 33• ]. However, such policies have been challenged by some interest groups, and results from recent studies paint a mixed picture as to the effects of restaurant food labeling on the quality of consumers' dietary intake. One natural experiment found that the mandatory nutrition labeling in New York City's fast food restaurants have had little impact on the energy intake of children and adolescents [ 33• ]. Another recent study, conducted in Philadelphia, reported that calorie postings often are ignored and have had little influence on fast food choices since Pennsylvania adopted similar regulations in 2010 [ 34 ]. However, a study of full-service restaurants found that although calorie labels may not have an impact on the most health-conscious consumers, they might influence the food choices of the least health-conscious consumers [ 15• ]. With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, researchers may be able to take advantage of such windows of opportunity to conduct more natural experiments on the effectiveness of food labeling in restaurants. To our knowledge, few other countries have implemented such national policies.

Regulation of Food Marketing

Food marketing has proven to be an effective strategy for changing consumers' food preferences, especially among children [ 35 ]. In the twenty-first century, food companies have integrated multiple media, such as television, the Internet, packaging, and popular movie characters, to penetrate the food market [ 36 ]. However, most foods advertised on television are high in fat and sugar and low in nutritional value [ 37 , 38 ]. Extensive studies suggest that increased exposure to food advertising might be associated with shaping food choices, beliefs, and purchase requests [ 39 ]. Findings from many of these studies, particularly those investigating the impact of advertising on children's food choices, have resulted in strong support for government regulation of food advertisements, especially those targeting young people.

Europe leads the world in regulating television advertising of food and drink products. In the 1980s, Sweden adopted a complete ban on junk food advertising in all media aimed at children younger than 12 years [ 40 ]. Since 2005, many European countries have followed in Sweden's footsteps. In 2007, France required a health message to be included in advertisements for junk food and unhealthy drinks in all traditional and Internet media [ 41 ]. Since 2007, a series of restrictions were phased in to ban junk food advertising in UK media aimed toward children of different ages.

In December 2007, leading food and beverage companies voluntarily launched the EU (European Union) Pledge, which commits members to restricting unhealthy food advertising to children younger than 12 years on traditional and Internet media [ 42 ]. EU Pledge membership has increased to 20 companies, covering 80% of EU revenue from food and beverage advertising. In 2012, these companies jointly published a white paper on nutrition criteria and promised a further reduction in marketing toward children [ 43 ].

In 2013, the Broadcast Authority of Ireland (BAI) adopted new restrictions on high-fat, -salt, and -sugar (HFSS) food and drink advertising targeting children [ 44 ]. The only exception is advertisements for cheese.

In other parts of the world, more countries have joined the battle against childhood obesity by voluntarily or mandatorily restricting advertising of unhealthy food products. The health minister of Singapore announced in 2013 that the country would introduce stricter guidelines to regulate the advertising of sweet drinks and fast foods high in oil and salt [ 45 ]. The US-based Walt Disney Company, as the first major media corporation, announced in June 2012 that any food and drink advertising aimed at families with children that appears on any Disney-owned medium are required by 2015 to comply with Disney's nutrition guidelines, which are consistent with US federal standards [ 46 ].

Although worldwide efforts to ban the advertising of unhealthy food products are encouraging, an accurate estimation of the impact of these policies remains challenging. Furthermore, in some countries, particularly some developing nations, many food companies, especially some Western fast food restaurant chains, have been investing heavily and successfully in food advertisements, including on television. However, government regulations lag behind these marketing activities. Indeed, central and local governments in some of these nations may not have motivations for strong regulations because of concerns that such measures might hurt economic growth and reduce tax revenues.

Economic Policies Affecting Food Prices: Taxation and Subsidy

Many researchers and policy makers believe economic approaches are more effective than other strategies (e.g., public health education) in promoting health-related behaviors. The successful experience in the United States and some other countries regarding tobacco control provides some useful evidence to support this argument. A large body of literature exists on studies of economic policies regarding tobacco control and the effects of these policies. During recent years, rapidly growing research on obesity has focused on the effect of economic approaches on obesity prevention.

Economic policies may influence food prices and therefore were recommended by the WHO in 2008 to promote healthy eating in public [ 47 ]. Taxing unhealthy food and subsidizing healthy food are the two main economic policy strategies to prevent obesity. However, debate continues over whether the government should adopt these economic policies and how effective these economic policies are in reducing obesity rates. One major concern is the possible regressivity of these policies [ 48 ]. Low-income populations are more likely to purchase low-priced, unhealthy food and are less likely to consume high-priced, healthy food. Therefore, a food tax or subsidy may favor high-income populations and penalize low-income groups. However, advocates for this economic approach suggest that health gains from obesity reduction benefit low-income groups more, so food taxes or subsidies do serve a purpose [ 49 ].

Some countries have introduced tax policies targeting unhealthy food and drink products; others are in the process of adopting similar policies. Those already implemented include the US tax on sweetened drinks, Denmark's “fat tax,” Hungary's “junk food tax,” and France's “tax on sweetened drinks.” Other measures under way include plans by Romania, Finland, and the United Kingdom to initiate a fat tax and Peru's plan to tax junk food [ 50 , 51• , 52 ].

In recent years, taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in the United States have drawn much attention. Such soft drink taxes already have been applied at state and city levels in some locations, although there are no national regulations yet. More than 40 states and several major cities, such as Chicago and Washington, DC, already tax sugary drinks [ 53 ].

Taxing SSBs and unhealthy foods may have at least two positive effects. One is an increase in revenue that may be used to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption efforts and support other obesity prevention programs. The second effect is an increase in the price of SSBs and unhealthy foods, thereby reducing their consumption. Research shows that a 10% price increase might reduce consumption by 8% to 12.6%. Further estimates indicate that a 20% tax on sugary drinks in the United States would reduce the prevalence of obesity by 3.5% [ 54 , 55 ]. However, studies on food taxes overall have provided mixed evidence as to their effectiveness in preventing obesity. Some researchers believed the magnitude of food tax was a critical factor for its effectiveness and therefore have proposed a comparatively larger excise tax, which would have a more effective impact on consumer behavior [ 56 , 57 ].

It is believed that promoting the consumption of fruits and vegetables to replace energy-dense foods may help prevent obesity [ 58 , 59 ]. However, very few countries have implemented programs to subsidize fruits and vegetables to make them more affordable to low socioeconomic groups. In the United States, First Lady Michelle Obama initiated the “Let's Move” initiative with the objective of dramatically boosting the intake of fruits and vegetables [ 60 ]. Through advocacy efforts tied to this initiative and the support of the current National School Lunch Program, 32 million students have been offered both fruits and vegetables every school day. States participating in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, established under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, provide free fruits and vegetables to students in participating elementary schools during the school day.

School-focused Food Policies

Schools represent an appropriate setting to implement many nutrition-related programs and policies. Children and adolescents spend a significant amount of their waking time at school: the average American child spends about 1,300 h in a classroom during one 9-month school year [ 61 ]. Because obese children are more likely to remain obese in adulthood, childhood is a critical period for obesity prevention. In addition, national and regional policies viewed as beneficial to children often are more likely to get social support than policies targeting other population groups. Therefore, schools have become the front line in obesity prevention, with school wellness policies being essential to combat childhood obesity [ 62 ].

In the United States, governments at all levels have given priority to developing school policies to increase nutritional standards and to create active lifestyles for children [ 63 - 65 ]. The most prominent policy change is the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 [ 66 ]. The HHFKA requires the development of federal nutrition standards for all foods regularly sold in schools during the school day, including in vending machines, “a la carte” lunch lines, and school stores. Additional funding is provided under the Healthy Kid Act to schools that meet the updated nutritional standards. The USDA has taken steps to create new standards for food sold in schools, such as Nutrition Standards for School Meals and Smart Snacks in School. US schools are revising their existing policies or adopting new ones to comply with the Healthy Kids Act of 2010 and the new nutrition standards [ 66 ].

Although the expected impact of the Healthy Kids Act of 2010 on nutritional intake and obesity prevention in children and adolescents might be profound, little scientific evidence for this approach has been presented in the literature. In the absence of federal nutritional standards, alternative standards may be applied, namely the Institute of Medicine's Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools: Leading the Way toward Healthier Youth (IOM standards). The fundamental tenets of the IOM standards are that federally reimbursable school meal programs should be the main source of nutrition in schools, that schools should limit foods that compete with healthy foods, and that if competitive foods are provided, they should consist primarily of healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nonfat or low-fat milk and other dairy products [ 67• ].

Similar nutritional standards have been adopted in French schools. GEMRCN (Groupe d'Etude des Marches de Restauration Collective et Nutrition), a national committee on catering and nutrition markets, drafted food-group frequency guidelines (FFGs) in 1999 for meals served in schools, and revised them in 2007 to restrict sugar and fat intake. Results from activity in Europe may be encouraging [ 68• ]. Although a national survey of 707 schools suggests that only 15 to 26% of French schools had fully complied with the FFGs, a more nutritionally balanced lunch was provided after the FFGs were revised in 2007 [ 68• ]. Therefore, it appears that adoption of a national policy is only the first step; how to implement and enforce the policy remains a challenge.

Conclusions

With increasing awareness about the importance of good nutrition and the many consequences of the growing obesity epidemic, many countries worldwide are taking active steps to support food policies aimed at preventing obesity. Developed countries, such as the United States and EU nations, have led obesity policy innovation with measures such as food labeling and school wellness programs. Some developing countries, such as China, Mexico, and Thailand, are catching up quickly. This pattern of adoption reflects the disparity between the obesity burden in developed countries and that in most developing countries. Obesity prevention through food policy provides a collaborative opportunity for policy makers in both developed and developing countries.

Although efforts of some developing countries to prevent and address the obesity epidemic are acknowledged, most developing countries are lagging behind in applying policy approach to obesity prevention. For example, to our knowledge, no developing countries in Africa have actively adopted food policies to promote healthy eating; instead of waiting for the governments to adopt the necessary policies, local citizens and nongovernmental and international organizations should play more active roles in developing or promoting obesity prevention policies at different levels, such as school district policies, company or industrial policies.

In addition, researchers, policy makers, and government officials are increasingly aware of the importance of systematic approaches to prevent obesity through food system improvements. Theoretically, from a policymaking perspective, this represents a very important way to change the obesogenic environment. However, because of the complexity of the food environment and challenges in implementing policy, little evidence is available to show the effectiveness of these food policies in reducing obesity rates. More innovative and rigorous research is needed to assess the impact of related polices and assist in their successful implementation, which may be generalized to other countries tackling obesity. International collaborations are urgently needed to address this global obesity epidemic.

Acknowledgments

The study was supported in part by research grants from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) [research grants 1R01HD064685-01A1 and U54HD070725 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)]. The U54 project is cofunded by the NICHD and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research of the NIH. Dr. Shiyong Liu's effort was supported in part by a research grant from the Chinese National Social Science Foundation (12CGL103). The content of the paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders. We also thank Dr. HyunJung Lim for her assistance in collecting some related information.

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines : Conflict of Interest Qi Zhang has received a consulting fee or honorarium from Johns Hopkins University.

Shiyong Liu, Ruicui Liu, Hong Xue, and Youfa Wang declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Contributor Information

Qi Zhang, School of Community and Environmental Health, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA.

Shiyong Liu, Department of Epidemology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214-8001, USA; Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, #55 Guanghuacun Street, Chengdu, Sichuan, China 610074.

Ruicui Liu, School of Community and Environmental Health, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA.

Hong Xue, Department of Epidemology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214-8001, USA.

Youfa Wang, Department of Epidemology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214-8001, USA.

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In many countries crime rates among teenagers are higher than among other age groups. What are the causes of this problem and what can be done to solve it ?

You have just finished your master’s degree and need to leave your current part-time job to search for full-time employment. write a letter to your current employer. in your letter o● explain why you will not pursue a full-time job in his/her company o ● say why you’ve enjoyed working for him/her o ● tell him/her how much longer you will continue to work for him/her., children should always follow their parents’ advice. to what extend do you agree or disagree with this statement, in some countries owning a house rather than renting is very important to people. why might this be the case do you think is a positive or negative situation, online education is becoming more and more popular. some people claim that e-learning has so many benefits that it will replace face-face education soon. others say that traditional education is irreplaceable. discuss both views and give your opinions..

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Whales Have an Alphabet

Until the 1960s, it was uncertain whether whales made any sounds at all..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

Today, ever since the discovery that whales produce songs, scientists have been trying to find a way to decipher their lyrics. After 60 years, they may have finally done it. My colleague, Carl Zimmer, explains.

It’s Friday, May 24.

I have to say, after many years of working with you on everything from the pandemic to —

— CRISPR DNA technology, that it turns out your interests are even more varied than I had thought, and they include whales.

They do indeed.

And why? What is it about the whale that captures your imagination?

I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody who is not fascinated by whales. I mean, these are mammals like us, and they’re swimming around in the water. They have brains that are much bigger than ours. They can live maybe 200 years. These are incredible animals, and animals that we still don’t really understand.

Right. Well, it is this majestic creature that brings us together today, Carl, because you have been reporting on a big breakthrough in our understanding of how it is that whales communicate. But I think in order for that breakthrough to make sense, I think we’re going to have to start with what we have known up until now about how whales interact. So tell us about that.

Well, people knew that whales and dolphins traveled together in groups, but up until the 1960s, we didn’t really know that whales actually made any sounds at all. It was actually sort of an accident that we came across it. The American military was developing sophisticated microphones to put underwater. They wanted to listen for Russian submarines.

As one does. But there was an engineer in Bermuda, and he started hearing some weird stuff.

[WHALE SOUNDS]

And he wondered maybe if he was actually listening to whales.

What made him wonder if it was whales, of all things?

Well, this sound did not sound like something geological.

It didn’t sound like some underwater landslide or something like that. This sounded like a living animal making some kind of call. It has these incredible deep tones that rise up into these strange, almost falsetto type notes.

It was incredibly loud. And so it would have to be some really big animal. And so with humpback whales swimming around Bermuda, this engineer thought, well, maybe these are humpback whales.

And so he gets in touch with a husband and wife team of whale biologists, Roger and Katy Payne, and plays these recordings to them. And they’re pretty convinced that they’re hearing whales, too. And then they go on to go out and confirm that by putting microphones in the water, chasing after groups of whales and confirming, yes, indeed, that these sounds are coming from these humpback whales.

So once these scientists confirm in their minds that these are the sounds of a whale, what happens with this discovery?

Well, Roger and Katy Payne and their colleagues are astonished that this species of whale is swimming around singing all the time for hours on end. And it’s so inspirational to them that they actually help to produce a record that they release “The Song of the Humpback Whale” in 1970.

And so this is being sold in record stores, you know, along with Jimi Hendrix and Rolling Stones. And it is a huge hit.

Yeah, it sells like two million copies.

Well, at the time, it was a huge cultural event. This record, this became almost like an anthem of the environmental movement. And it led, for whales in particular, to a lot of protections for them because now people could appreciate that whales were a lot more marvelous and mysterious than they maybe had appreciated before.

And so you have legislation, like the Marine Mammal Act. The United States just agrees just to stop killing whales. It stops its whaling industry. And so you could argue that the discovery of these whale songs in Bermuda led to at least some species of whales escaping extinction.

Well, beyond the cultural impact of this discovery, which is quite meaningful, I wonder whether scientists and marine biologists are figuring out what these whale songs are actually communicating.

So the Paynes create a whole branch of science, the study of whale songs. It turns out that pretty much every species of whale that we know of sings in some way or another. And it turns out that within a species, different groups of whales in different parts of the world may sing with a different dialect. But the big question of what these whales are singing, what do these songs mean, that remains elusive into the 21st century. And things don’t really change until scientists decide to take a new look at the problem in a new way.

And what is that new way?

So in 2020, a group of whale biologists, including Roger Payne, come together with computer scientists from MIT. Instead of humpback whales, which were the whales where whale songs are first discovered, these scientists decide to study sperm whales in the Caribbean. And humpback whales and sperm whales have very, very different songs. So if you’re used to humpback whales with their crazy high and low singing voices —

Right, those best-selling sounds.

— those are rockin’ tunes of the humpback whales, that’s not what sperm whales do. Sperm whales have a totally different way of communicating with each other. And I actually have some recordings that were provided by the scientists who have been doing this research. And so we can take a listen to some of them.

Wow, It’s like a rhythmic clicking.

These are a group of sperm whales swimming together, communicating.

So whale biologists knew already that there was some structure to this sound. Those clicks that you hear, they come in little pulses. And each of those pulses is known as a coda. And whale biologists had given names to these different codas. So, for example, they call one coda, one plus one plus three —

— which is basically click, click, click, click, click, or four plus three, where you have four clicks in a row and a pause and then three clicks in a row.

Right. And the question would seem to be, is this decipherable communication, or is this just whale gibberish?

Well, this is where the computer scientists were able to come in and to help out. The whale biologists who were listening to the codas from the sperm whales in the Caribbean, they had identified about 21 types. And then that would seem to be about it.

But then, an MIT computer science graduate student named Prajusha Sharma was given the job of listening to them again.

And what does she hear?

In a way, it’s not so much what she heard, but what she saw.

Because when scientists record whale songs, you can look at it kind of like if you’re looking at an audio of a recording of your podcast, you will see the little squiggles of your voice.

And so whale biologists would just look at that ticker of whale songs going across the screen and try to compare them. And Sharma said, I don’t like this. I just — this is not how I look at data. And so what she decided to do is she decided to kind of just visualize the data differently. And essentially, she just kind of flipped these images on their side and saw something totally new.

And what she saw was that sperm whales were singing a whole bunch of things that nobody had actually been hearing.

One thing that she discovered was that you could have a whale that was producing a coda over and over and over again, but it was actually playing with it. It was actually stretching out the coda,

[CLICKING] So to get a little bit longer and a little bit longer, a little bit longer.

And then get shorter and shorter and shorter again. They could play with their codas in a way that nobody knew before. And she also started to see that a whale might throw in an extra click at the end of a coda. So it would be repeating a coda over and over again and then boom, add an extra one right at the end. What they would call an ornamentation. So now, you have yet another signal that these whales are using.

And if we just look at what the sperm whales are capable of producing in terms of different codas, we go from just 21 types that they had found in the Caribbean before to 156. So what the scientists are saying is that what we might be looking at is what they call a sperm whale phonetic alphabet.

Yeah, that’s a pretty big deal because the only species that we know of for sure that has a phonetic alphabet —

— is us, exactly. So the reason that we can use language is because we can make a huge range of sounds by just doing little things with our mouths. A little change in our lips can change a bah to a dah. And so we are able to produce a set of phonetic sounds. And we put those sounds together to make words.

So now, we have sperm whales, which have at least 150 of these different versions of sounds that they make just by making little adjustments to the existing way that they make sounds. And so you can make a chart of their phonetic alphabet, just like you make a chart of the human phonetic alphabet.

So then, that raises the question, do they combine their phonetic alphabet into words? Do they combine their words into sentences? In other words, do sperm whales have a language of their own?

Right. Are they talking to each other, really talking to each other?

If we could really show that whales had language on par with humans, that would be like finding intelligent life on another planet.

We’ll be right back.

So, Carl, how should we think about this phonetic alphabet and whether sperm whales are actually using it to talk to each other?

The scientists on this project are really careful to say that these results do not definitively prove what these sperm whale sounds are. There are a handful of possibilities here in terms of what this study could mean. And one of them is that the whales really are using full-blown language.

What they might be talking about, we don’t know. I mean, perhaps they like to talk about their travels over hundreds and thousands of miles. Maybe they’re talking about, you know, the giant squid that they caught last night. Maybe they’re gossiping about each other.

And you have to remember, sperm whales are incredibly social animals. They have relationships that last for decades. And they live in groups that are in clans of thousands of whales. I mean, imagine the opportunities for gossip.

These are all at least imaginable now. But it’s also possible that they are communicating with each other, but in a way that isn’t language as we know it. You know, maybe these sounds that they’re producing don’t add up to sentences. There’s no verb there. There’s no noun. There’s no structure to it in terms of how we think of language.

But maybe they’re still conveying information to each other. Maybe they’re somehow giving out who they are and what group they belong to. But it’s not in the form of language that we think of.

Right. Maybe it’s more kind of caveman like as in whale to whale, look, there, food.

It’s possible. But, you know, other species have evolved in other directions. And so you have to put yourself in the place of a sperm whale. You know, so think about this. They are communicating in the water. And actually, like sending sounds through water is a completely different experience than through the air like we do.

So a sperm whale might be communicating to the whale right next to it a few yards away, but it might be communicating with whales miles away, hundreds of miles away. They’re in the dark a lot of the time, so they don’t even see the whales right next to them. So it’s just this constant sound that they’re making because they’re in this dark water.

So we might want to imagine that such a species would talk the way we do, but there are just so many reasons to expect that whatever they’re communicating might be just profoundly different, so different that it’s actually hard for us to imagine. And so we need to really, you know, let ourselves be open to lots of possibilities.

And one possibility that some scientists have raised is that maybe language is just the wrong model to think about. Maybe we need to think about music. You know, maybe this strange typewriter, clickety clack is actually not like a Morse code message, but is actually a real song. It’s a kind of music that doesn’t necessarily convey information the way conversation does, but it brings the whales together.

In humans, like, when we humans sing together in choruses, it can be a very emotional experience. It’s a socially bonding experience, but it’s not really like the specific words that we’re singing that bring us together when we’re singing. It’s sharing the music together.

But at a certain point, we stop singing in the chorus, and we start asking each other questions like, hey, what are you doing for dinner? How are you going to get home? There’s a lot of traffic on the BQE. So we are really drawn to the possibility that whales are communicating in that same kind of a mode.

We’re exchanging information. We’re seeking out each other’s well-being and emotional state. And we’re building something together.

And I think that happens because, I mean, language is so fundamental to us as human beings. I mean, it’s like every moment of our waking life depends on language. We are talking to ourselves if we’re not talking to other people.

In our sleep, we dream, and there are words in our dreams. And we’re just stewing in language. And so it’s really, really hard for us to understand how other species might have a really complex communication system with hundreds of different little units of sound that they can use and they can deploy. And to think anything other than, well, they must be talking about traffic on the BQE. Like —

— we’re very human-centric. And we have to resist that.

So what we end up having here is a genuine breakthrough in our understanding of how whales interact. And that seems worth celebrating in and of itself. But it really kind of doubles as a lesson in humility for us humans when it comes to appreciating the idea that there are lots of non-human ways in which language can exist.

That’s right. Humility is always a good idea when we’re thinking about other animals.

So what now happens in this realm of research? And how is it that these scientists, these marine biologists and these computer scientists are going to try to figure out what exactly this alphabet amounts to and how it’s being used?

So what’s going to happen now is a real sea change in gathering data from whales.

So to speak.

So these scientists are now deploying a new generation of undersea microphones. They’re using drones to follow these whales. And what they want to do is they want to be recording sounds from the ocean where these whales live 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And so the hope is that instead of getting, say, a few 100 codas each year on recording, these scientists want to get several hundred million every year, maybe billions of codas every year.

And once you get that much data from whales, then you can start to do some really amazing stuff with artificial intelligence. So these scientists hope that they can use the same kind of artificial intelligence that is behind things like ChatGPT or these artificial intelligence systems that are able to take recordings of people talking and transcribing them into text. They want to use that on the whale communication.

They want to just grind through vast amounts of data, and maybe they will discover more phonetic letters in this alphabet. Who knows? Maybe they will actually find bigger structures, structures that could correspond to language.

If you go really far down this route of possibilities, the hope is that you would understand what sperm whales are saying to each other so well that you could actually create artificial sperm whale communication, and you could play it underwater. You could talk to the sperm whales. And they would talk back. They would react somehow in a way that you had predicted. If that happens, then maybe, indeed, sperm whales have something like language as we understand it.

And the only way we’re going to figure that out is if we figure out not just how they talk to themselves, but how we can perhaps talk to them, which, given everything we’ve been talking about here, Carl, is a little bit ironic because it’s pretty human-centric.

That’s right. This experiment could fail. It’s possible that sperm whales don’t do anything like language as we know it. Maybe they’re doing something that we can’t even imagine yet. But if sperm whales really are using codas in something like language, we are going to have to enter the conversation to really understand it.

Well, Carl, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Thank you. Sorry. Can I say that again? My voice got really high all of a sudden.

A little bit like a whale’s. Ooh.

Yeah, exactly. Woot. Woot.

Thank yoooo. No. Thank you.

Here’s what else you need to know today.

We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long. It is time to break it up.

On Thursday, the Justice Department sued the concert giant Live Nation Entertainment, which owns Ticketmaster, for violating federal antitrust laws and sought to break up the $23 billion conglomerate. During a news conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Live Nation’s monopolistic tactics had hurt the entire industry of live events.

The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices.

In a statement, Live Nation called the lawsuit baseless and vowed to fight it in court.

A reminder — tomorrow, we’ll be sharing the latest episode of our colleagues’ new show, “The Interview.” This week on “The Interview,” Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Ted Sarandos, the CEO of Netflix, about his plans to make the world’s largest streaming service even bigger.

I don’t agree with the premise that quantity and quality are somehow in conflict with each other. I think our content and our movie programming has been great, but it’s just not all for you.

Today’s episode was produced by Alex Stern, Stella Tan, Sydney Harper, and Nina Feldman. It was edited by MJ Davis, contains original music by Pat McCusker, Dan Powell, Elisheba Ittoop, Marion Lozano, and Sophia Lanman, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

Special thanks to Project SETI for sharing their whale recordings.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Tuesday after the holiday.

• May 31, 2024   •   31:29 Guilty
• May 30, 2024   •   25:21 The Government Takes On Ticketmaster
• May 29, 2024   •   29:46 The Closing Arguments in the Trump Trial
• May 28, 2024   •   25:56 The Alitos and Their Flags
• May 24, 2024   •   25:18 Whales Have an Alphabet
• May 23, 2024   •   34:24 I.C.C. Prosecutor Requests Warrants for Israeli and Hamas Leaders
• May 22, 2024   •   23:20 Biden’s Open War on Hidden Fees
• May 21, 2024   •   24:14 The Crypto Comeback
• May 20, 2024   •   31:51 Was the 401(k) a Mistake?
• May 19, 2024   •   33:23 The Sunday Read: ‘Why Did This Guy Put a Song About Me on Spotify?’
• May 17, 2024   •   51:10 The Campus Protesters Explain Themselves
• May 16, 2024   •   30:47 The Make-or-Break Testimony of Michael Cohen

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Carl Zimmer

Produced by Alex Stern ,  Stella Tan ,  Sydney Harper and Nina Feldman

Edited by MJ Davis Lin

Original music by Elisheba Ittoop ,  Dan Powell ,  Marion Lozano ,  Sophia Lanman and Pat McCusker

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

Ever since the discovery of whale songs almost 60 years ago, scientists have been trying to decipher the lyrics.

But sperm whales don’t produce the eerie melodies sung by humpback whales, sounds that became a sensation in the 1960s. Instead, sperm whales rattle off clicks that sound like a cross between Morse code and a creaking door. Carl Zimmer, a science reporter, explains why it’s possible that the whales are communicating in a complex language.

On today’s episode

Carl Zimmer , a science reporter for The New York Times who also writes the Origins column .

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The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

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Carl Zimmer covers news about science for The Times and writes the Origins column . More about Carl Zimmer

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