Fat of the land

"Obesity is not a choice,” says Robert H. Lustig, and he ought to know. He’s a pediatric endocrinologist who has devoted the last couple of decades to studying obesity and treating obese children. He is also a captivating speaker. His 2009 YouTube video Sugar: The Bitter Truth has attracted some 3.5 million hits even though it’s educational and 90 minutes long.

Blame is the last thing overweight people need, Lustig argues. Look at what’s happening: “The percentage of obese humans globally has doubled in the past 28 years. . . . Even people in developing countries are obese,” he writes. In the United States, obesity is increasing at the greatest rate among children between ages two and five. Even our pets are getting fat. Do we really believe that in just one generation the whole world has made an unprecedented turn toward sloth and gluttony?

Unlikely, says Lustig, in this thoroughly researched if meandering book that would probably pack more of a punch if he had made it three books instead of one. PBS watchers might be fascinated by a book called, say, Hormones Run Amok, explaining how our bodies handle the wrong kinds or amounts of food. Activists could fuel their rage with Evil Twins, showing how governments and the food industry collaborate to make us fatter and sicker. Self-help fans (of whom Lustig is not fond) might thrill to Never Diet Again, an eating-and-exercise bible promising not only lasting weight reduction but also vastly improved health.