Cheap Food May be the Real Reason Behind American Obesity Epidemic

While poor food choices and readily-available fast food is helping contribute to rising rates of obesity, scientists have found that there may be another factor that's largely to blame. It turns out that cheap food could be the real reason behind the American obesity epidemic.

Two in three Americans are either overweight or obese. These rates have risen steadily over the past several decades, calling our food choices into question. There have been many suggested causes, such as snack food, automobiles, television, fast food, vending machines and portion size among others. Yet while these are all contributing factors, scientists wanted to what was the largest contributor to rising rates of obesity.

The researchers examined available evidence, reviewing possible different causes for obesity. They found that the rise of electronic entertainment, increased us of cars, a shift in jobs away from those with physical demands and increased urbanization all contributed to obesity. Yet the lead factor was something surprising.

"Americans are spending a smaller share of their income (or corresponding amount of effort) on food than any other society in history or anywhere else in the word, yet get more of it," write the authors in a news release. "Examining time trends for which there are data, what jumps out are changes in food availability, in particular the increase in caloric sweeteners and carbohydrates."

In fact, the researchers found that the fact that food is cheaper now for Americans than at any other time in history is the leading cause for the obesity epidemic. Yet that's not all that they discovered. The scientists found that interventions that focus on "positive" approaches, such as increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and increasing physical activity, might not be all that effective at combating obesity.

"Although increasing fruit and vegetable consumption may be a laudable goal for other health reasons, it is unlikely to be an effective tool for obesity prevention," wrote the researchers in a news release.

The findings are published in the journal Ca Cancer J Clin.