In the more overarching degree of policy, what are examples of effective policy work meizitang strong version that you have seen, Dr. Willett, with regard to weight reduction?
Willett: First, policies can operate whatsoever levels. You could have policies in your house: "We don't keep soda in the home." This is a health policy that can be really helpful, especially for kids. If it's not there, they're not going to drink it, and then that becomes standard. There can also be policies at work, for example, there are healthy options like whole grain if you have food service. Then there are policies that operate in the state, federal, or global level, such as the World Trade Organization, that has policies which are sometimes not within the needs of people, but are much more about protecting corporate interests. Not to mention there are numerous agricultural policies at national level that typically are intertwined with global policies, too.
One which we've done quite a bit is trans fat. We did lots of work showing the adverse affects on health outcomes, and then we tried to make that information available to consumers. We worked with other groups and also got the FDA to require trans-fat labeling; that was a large step forward. Food manufacturers conducted their own consumer knowledge surveys and located that a high percentage of people, especially women, did not know that trans fats weren't good for them. Now if it was on the food label it needed to be removed from the product. That was a policy decision that really helped a lot of people; even if it consumers weren't concerned with or considering trans fat, it was from the product in an exceedingly visible way.
Another example is a soda tax as a potential policy. A lot of subsidy goes into making the ingredients in soda gratify in order that it fetch the amount of an inexpensive amount and still make a huge profit. However , the cost of soda is not really spending money on the consequences of drinking three sodas everyday. Your are ramping up your risk of diabetes, and you're only some of the one paying for it because we all do have healthcare insurance. There is a great justification, I believe, for any soda tax that really makes bare the real price of soda. So we know that which will influence behavior and cause alternative beverages to be available cheaper to ensure that individuals will convey more choices.
Are there any starting points that folks can begin at to have some sort of influence, even when it's the first step of something which might take years?
Willett: Getting sodas from schools is a policy achievement that essentially happened because of concerned parents starting in a nearby school district; then it spread and have become a national movement. Someone realized that it was very hard for just one kid not to drink soda when everyone else around them was drinking soda. A parent or gaurdian could have their hard work at home totally undermined in what was going on in school. There are numerous other issues in schools where things start with one school at any given time, or two concerned parents who speak with others, or at parent-teacher organizations. I believe that's quite interesting.
When you take a look at changes which have been important, they've almost always started that way--it wasn't national. They were only available in single towns or cities with some people, sometimes only one person. And it's pretty clear that if everybody is just acting on their own, these changes will not have happened. It means that part of the solution comes from people cooperating to red meizitang strong version create changes, not just on their own however for their community, which can wind up being the whole country.
Grains, I learn, are the main no-no for Paleo people. Why?