The War on Obesity

A fascinating article in the current American Journal of Public Health examines the value of dietary guidelines and the evidence supporting them. In particular the critique is concerned about the potential ill effects of dietary changes when the public may believe they are fully informed. We should be particularly careful about emulating the public health intervention on eliminating trans fats that has been enacted in New York City. While data may be fair on the value of reducing fats to prevent cardiovascular disease, there is almost no data on ill effects from the elimination of trans fats. Many of the dietary guidelines are based in flimsy evidence with politics playing a major role. We need to be very careful about trying to change behavior by legislation, without much better data than that currently available. The accompanying article about the critique, by Woolf & Nestle should also be read, as well as the author's response to Woolf & Marantz.