Fit-topia

Fit towns would force residents to move their fat asses.

In Boston last Sunday, the conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science saw a similarly depressing nod to lifestyle management. Professor Philip James of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and, more importantly, chairman of the Brave-New-World-sounding International Obesity Taskforce, declared: ‘The environment in which we live is the overwhelming factor amplifying the obesity epidemic’. He continued, arguing that it was naïve to place ‘the onus on individuals making “healthier choices” while the environment in which we live is the overwhelming factor amplifying the epidemic’ (2). Rena Wing of Brown University echoed the pessimistic view of individuals’ capacity to make what the holier-than-thou alliance of policy makers and experts deem the right choices: ‘We live in an obesogenic environment that relies heavily on fast food, automobiles and remote controls – all of which can be labelled as “toxic” to maintaining a healthy weight.’ (3)