Title: Cheap Food Blamed for America's Obesity Crisis
Headings: Cheap Food Blamed for America's Obesity Crisis
Cheap Food Blamed for America's Obesity Crisis
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Content: Cheap Food Blamed for America's Obesity Crisis
Diet & Fitness
Cheap Food Blamed for America's Obesity Crisis
Why are Americans so fat? A new study suggests cheap food may be to blame. May 22, 2014, 9:56 AM PDT / Updated May 22, 2014, 12:20 PM PDT
By Linda Carroll and Madelyn Fernstrom, PhD
Why are Americans so fat? A new study suggests we've been getting it all wrong. It's not that we don't exercise enough or spend too much time at the office, or that good, healthy food is too expensive, researchers reported Thursday. And it's not about socioeconomic status, race or geography. Rather, the main reason we're getting fatter — all of us — is because we are surrounded by tasty temptations that cost very little, from fast food menus to processed snack foods, said the study's lead author, Roland Sturm, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Up till now, researchers have focused on group differences: between rich and poor, between those who live states like Colorado and Mississippi, or between blacks and whites, Sturm said. "But what we've really got to look at is changes over time for everyone," he explained. "