Externally controlled, which makes us fat.

I found this interesting article in derStandard
Manipulated: What Makes Us Fat and Sick - Lifestyle - derStandard.at › Health

This made me think about my own past. 

I used to be massively overweight myself. A combination of online role-playing games and very unhealthy eating. Mainly chips, Bifi, and all sorts of sweets. 

I drank exclusively Coca-Cola or Mezzo Mix. All in all, a toxic mix of a lack of exercise and sugar bombs led to 125kg+. 

Something I never want to experience again, but of course, it is constantly on my mind. 
But since I have been dealing with my diet and also with the development of sugar withdrawal, I have become much more aware of something. 

We are constantly bombarded with advertising for chocolate, energy drinks, chips, and much more. Advertising for healthy products practically does not exist. 

Even in my local shop, the range of sugary and highly processed foods has grown massively. This is probably related to its proximity to the school, as the students go shopping during recess and, at best, buy an apple. 
The boom in influencer products, which are anything but healthy, can also be observed in this market. 

So it is actually hardly surprising that our population is becoming increasingly unfit and sicker. Life expectancy in the USA has already fallen. 
We are simply not self-determined, that is an illusion, but we are constantly bombarded by a gigantic marketing machine to buy as much junk food as possible. I never see advertising for bananas, apples, or anything else. 

Something has to change, we cannot go on like this. The solution cannot be that the food industry makes us fat and the pharmaceutical industry then sells us weight-loss injections.

That is all for now.

Best regards
Ludwig

PS: I also found this WHO study and had it translated into German using ChatGPT. The image for this article was also created by the AI DALL-E. 
Here is the link to the original study. 

The commercial determinants of health

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan noted that “efforts to prevent non-communicable diseases run counter to the commercial interests of powerful economic actors.” The sale of processed foods, beverages, alcohol, and tobacco is a huge business, and demand is booming, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

There has always been a critical analysis in the field of public health regarding the power of the corporate sector – especially in the area of tobacco. In recent years, however, attention has shifted to other topics, including unhealthy consumer goods, industrial epidemics, profit-oriented diseases, and harmful corporate practices. The focus on lifestyle choices has also been heavily criticized, especially in connection with marketing measures aimed specifically at children.

These research areas overlap in many ways, but researchers are often separated by disciplines, approaches, and health topics. We see great value in bringing these works together conceptually under the term commercial determinants of health: a synergistic, multidisciplinary research field that deals with the drivers and channels through which corporations advance the pandemic of non-communicable diseases.

Earlier definitions of the commercial determinants of health highlighted the fundamental conflict between maximizing shareholder value and public health – for example, West and Marteau's definition of “factors that influence health and result from the profit motive.” However, this broad definition does not capture the inherent complexity of the commercial determinants, as the profit motive also applies to companies that sell health-promoting products such as fruit and vegetables. Other definitions have focused on consumption, but have overlooked other channels through which corporations influence governments, society, and consumers.

We define the commercial determinants of health as “strategies and approaches used by the private sector to promote products and decisions that harm health.” This concept brings together various aspects: at the micro level, these include consumer and health behaviors, individualization, and choices; at the macro level, the global risk society, the global consumer society, and the political economy of globalization.

Three interconnected factors have changed global business and consumption landscapes while simultaneously strengthening the power of large corporations: rising demand, increasing market coverage, and the continued internationalization of trade and investment. Empirical evidence can be found in the increasing number of international trade agreements, the relentless market penetration in low- and middle-income countries, as well as in metrics such as the MSCI Consumer Staples Index (which includes tobacco, food, and beverages), which has grown by 200% in low- and middle-income countries over the past ten years.

Channels of corporate influence

Corporate influence is exerted through four main channels:

1. Marketing: It increases the attractiveness and acceptance of unhealthy products.
2. Lobbying: It hinders political measures such as plain packaging and minimum drinking ages for alcohol.
3. Corporate social responsibility strategies: They distract attention and improve the image of disgraced companies.
4. Global supply chains: They amplify the influence of corporations worldwide.

These channels expand the reach of corporations and amplify the health impacts of their actions. With the growing range of consumer products, the influence of corporations is extended to more and more people.

A major problem is the lack of publicly available data on corporate practices. Concentrated efforts to quantify these channels are therefore an important task of public health research. Some data are available: between 2009 and 2015, for example, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and the American Beverage Association together spent 114 million US dollars on lobbying at the federal level. 45% of people in countries that have ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control still report tobacco marketing. Companies also speak openly about how they use so-called corporate citizenship to polish their public image.

Health impacts

Health outcomes are determined by the influence of corporate activities on the social environment in which people live and work: the availability, cultural appeal, and prices of unhealthy products. The environment shapes so-called lifeworlds, lifestyles, and individual consumer choices – and thus ultimately health.

The framework of the commercial determinants of health presented here is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather to stimulate discussion that will lead to the establishment of a distinct research field, anchored in courses and departments at universities and public health institutions worldwide.

The rise of non-communicable diseases is a manifestation of a global economic system that currently prioritizes wealth creation over health promotion. Many central problems and solutions lie outside the health sector, especially in the areas of international finance, trade, and investment policy. There is no quick fix for misguided incentives, uncorrected externalities, and widespread cognitive dissonance.

The paradoxes of the 21st century require in-depth interdisciplinary collaboration. The concept of the commercial determinants of health offers a unique conceptual space to bring together researchers and policymakers from different backgrounds and pursue a common goal. It is time to systematically address our efforts to combat the commercial drivers of disease.