Who most egregiously overestimates the intelligence of Americans? Junk food advertisers and politicians are two that quickly come to mind. Whenever a sensible bit of legislation is proposed that say, limits soda sold in grade schools, or requires listing trans fats in donuts, just as predictably as right-wingers yelping about the nanny state, allies of Big high fructose corn syrup (advertisers, industry lobbyists, etc) proclaim that Americans are smart enough to know that too much trans fats or high fructose corn syrup or whatever additive is only harmful in large amounts. While the science may be true, while consuming trace amounts of Red No. 45 may be harmless, most Americans have no idea what's healthy and what isn't. We can blame small servings sizes or huge portions but the truth is that most Americans are not smart enough to understand healthy eating. Studies have been done by groups such as the CSPI that demonstrate that Americans are clueless when asked to estimate how many calories are in a dish. In fact, they consistently underestimate. Sugary cereals are given check marks from the AHA and other healthy sounding seals of approval. If junk food merchants are to continue to push the foods they do, they should carry something akin to the surgeon general's warning on cigarettes warning people that consuming in excess of moderation may cause serious health problems such as obesity and diabetes.
I'll save politicians for another post.
No comments:
Post a Comment