Kyle Nicholas's Reviews > Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It

This book should be required reading for EVERY medical professional from day one. At the very least, it would help med students before they deal with patients who are overweight and suffering obesity-related health issues, who are also low-income (no matter where in the world they live,) to understand why people may be fat. It's not that the obese are eating chocolate bars by the gross and then sitting back defending our "lifestyle choices" when we're told to lose weight, eat less and get up and exercise. Medical professionals need to stop treating the obese, especially when the overweight are poor and come from food-insecure households, like we're just soft-addicted "druggies" who flat-out refuse to change our diets. Most of us don't have that option. This goes right to the heart of the issue in American society and the disparity between the rich and the poor. The rich (and by extension, post-grad medical students, doctors, nurses and their ilk) are thin and healthy because they can afford NOT to eat. The poor don't have that choice. American doctors don't have to skip meals because they can't afford them, and they've never had to decide which of their children doesn't get to eat supper that evening. When government subsidies go to cheap processed carb-based foods and resources, it translates at the grocery aisle. You can catch a good sale at Grocery Outlet for three candy bars for a dollar. Meanwhile, that same buck might get you 3/4 of an apple, if you're lucky.

No, I stand corrected. This book should be read by EVERYONE, regardless.