February 23, 2004
Washington powerless to move under growing obesity
Nicholas Wapshott on America
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/articl...1012346,00.html
THE icy New York pavement that toppled Robert Atkins led not only to the death of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet guru but also to a vicious and protracted argument.
On the one side are his loyal followers, led by his widow and heir, Veronica, and on the other a mighty coalition of America’s medical establishment, the food industry and the nation’s cereal farmers.
The dispute over the 6ft doctor’s weight at the time of his death — reported to be more than 18st — is not simply about whether he was an obese hypocrite, but whether his protein-packed diet is dangerous. At stake is the success of the multimillion-dollar low-carb industry — and the best effort yet by Americans to try to turn the tide of obesity.
While doctors and followers of the diet chew over why Atkins had high blood- pressure, high cholesterol and a failing heart when he died, a vast number of Americans have made up their minds already. So many have chosen to gorge themselves on smoked salmon, eggs and meat that whole sectors of the economy are having to change.
So far, 11 per cent of American adults have adopted a low-carbohydrate diet, such as the Atkins or South Beach regimes, and schools, businesses, even the Girl Scouts, have felt the effect. The market for low-carb products and services will this year reach $25 billion (£13.4 billion).
Food companies have responded quickly to the change in demand. Last month senior executives from 450 leading companies, such as Kraft and Wal-Mart, attended a meeting in Denver to work out how to claim their share of the new food bonanza. Popular restaurant chains, such as TGI Friday’s and Ruby Tuesday’s, have been joined by fast-food outlets in altering menus to accommodate the low-carb fad. Makers of processed food such as Unilever-Best Foods and Kellogg have introduced low-carb veggie-burgers, peanut butter and tomato sauce. Hershey will soon launch a low-carb chocolate bar.
A chain of low-carb supermarkets has opened in health-conscious southern California. Last month saw the arrival of the magazine LowCarb Living, aimed at Atkins fanatics.
Those who produce protein have seen an enormous lift in earnings. Demand for beef was up by 5 per cent last year and has increased by 15.4 per cent in the past five years. Poultry farmers, who for 20 years suffered from official advice that it was unhealthy to eat more than three eggs a week, have seen a spectacular turnround. The average American ate 235 eggs in 1995; by 2002 they were eating 258 a year. Last year egg sales rose a further 11 per cent.
Those who do not or cannot adjust to the low-carb movement are suffering. Wheat farmers in the Mid- western plains were the first to be hit. Americans have eaten 11 fewer pounds of flour in the past two years and last year consumption of bread fell by 1.2 per cent. Demand for potatoes has become so slack that growers on Prince Edward Island are putting mountains of unsold potatoes in cold storage.
The low-carb craze is hurting long-established traditions, too. Some Florida schools, spurred by evidence that eating sugar and other carbohydrates leads to bad behaviour, while eating protein improves brain performance, have switched school lunches from pizza to bacon and eggs. Even Girl Scouts, who traditionally raise funds by selling homemade biscuits, have seen sales drop by as much as 10 per cent.
As Americans alter their eating habits, there are winners and losers among the states. Idaho is America’s potato state, producing an annual 13.8 billion pounds of spuds worth $2.5 billion, or 15 per cent of the state’s gross domestic product. To Idahoans, Dr Atkins was a dangerous revolutionary who even in death is threatening their livelihoods. However, Ohio farmers, who provide a lion’s share of the protein-rich eggs, red meat, pork and cheese that Americans eat, consider the doctor a saviour.
Alongside the profound differences that separate the red (Republican) and blue (Democratic) states, the North and the South, and the liberals and the conservatives, another great divide has hit American society: between those who try to lose weight and eat healthily and those who do not give a damn. The 32 million Americans who have adopted low-carb diets, and all those who choose healthy diets , contrast sharply with the 44 million carefree carb-munchers who the federal Government deems obese.
In the French animated film Les Triplettes de Belleville, which is up for an Oscar on Sunday, America is portrayed as an overstuffed nation of guzzling gargantuans, an image that the Administration would dearly like to shake off. But, as in everything, Washington cannot intervene for fear of being accused of interfering in an individual’s right to choose. It is the fundamental right of 300,000 Americans each year to die prematurely from obesity.
For the past 20 years, in an effort to reduce heart disease and diabetes, the federal Government has obliged food companies to reveal the amount of fat in a product. But as the “lo-fat” fad gives way to the low-carb vogue, Washington finds itself in a bind. So long as the medical profession casts doubt on the virtues of a low-carb diet, the Government must remain agnostic about the Atkins debate and sit idly by as two thirds of the nation steadily gains weight.
"Washington powerless to move under growing obesity"
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