Blaming Reluctance More Than Ignorance

It’s a handy excuse: People are overweight because they’ve been confused by conflicting expert opinions about nutrition and exercise. This semi-comforting notion does not hold up under scrutiny, though. An ACNielsen poll finds a consensus among Americans about how they can control their weight, as well as a successful track record among people who take their own sound advice. One example: 65 percent of adults believe that “reducing frequency of eating junk food” is a useful way of keeping weight in check (gee, ya think?), and 86 percent of those who have tried this method have found it effective.