Conor Hoolihan
WRIT 1133
Professor Leake
4-22-13
Mindless Eating In America
As I sat at Panera Bread last week, my views toward American societal eating habits changed drastically. Our society condones and promotes an eating style that takes away from the enjoyment and relaxation that food once brought to people. Because efficiency and productivity are staples of American lifestyle, we are forced to eat fast, unhealthy, and most importantly mindlessly. What I mean by this is that we are more focused on the “chore” of eating as fast as we can as opposed to eating for enjoyment. This is exactly what I saw at Panera that day. A family sat down for lunch and proceeded to remain silent for the whole meal, which lasted for approximately 20 minutes. Mindless eating is not so much the way we eat, but the idea of how we eat as a society. It encompasses the fact that we eat way to fast and don’t realize what we are eating because we are in a hurry. We are moving away the enjoyment and pleasure of eating. This can be linked to the unhealthy society in which we live as influenced by the marketing around us. With the help of doctors, dieticians, and government statistics, it is easy to see that the mindless eating habits that we, and large businesses, promote in our society are the source of the increasing obesity rates in our country.
To start off, it should be clarified that mindless eating is the societal habit of eating on the sole basis that there is food in front of you and it ALL needs to be eaten before you have to get back to work, family, or other obligations. The problem with how we are dealing with it is that businesses market to the fact that people will eat everything you give them, hence larger portions is perceived as good. Dr. Wansink, a Cornell nutrition research leader, has done extensive studies on the areas of people eating more than is necessary because of what they are served. He states that "Most of us don't overeat because we're hungry. We overeat because of family and friends, packages and plates, names and numbers, labels and lights, colors and candles, and other environmental factors (Wansink).” This is a result of the way eating in portrayed by businesses and society. For example, the trends in company’s marketing has moved to on-the-go friendly packaging, like Go-Gurt and Gripz snacks. Studies by Dr. Wansink have concluded that people will eat more if there is more to eat in front of them. The most interesting part of his study was when he explained to his students who sat through a 90 minute class that if they were presented with a one-gallon bowl of cereal, they would eat more cereal during the class than if they were presented two half-gallon bowls. Despite this lesson, the students who served themselves from the one–gallon bowl served 53% more and ate 59% more and did not believe the size of the serving bowls influenced their behavior. The second myth was busted in a similar fashion. A study of 150 Chicagoans revealed that Americans are more likely to use external, environmental cues to determine when they are done eating, rather than cues of internal satiety. People eat more with their eyes than with their stomachs, and they do not even realize it (Wansink). These studies confirm to large extent that people will mindless eat whatever is in front of them, hence leading to overeating and eventually obesity.
Businesses have a lot of control over the eating style of our society. This can be seen in correlation between the rising obesity rates in our country over the last 20 years (Horwitz). This rate has been steadily rising and so have the target products from top business across the world. A great example of this can be seen by Kellogg’s unveiling of their patented snack call Gripz in July of 2005 (Food Processing). This snack is a pouch of crackers that is to be consumed in large quantities while being eaten on the go. This can be seen from their advertisements that show a young kid eating this snack while skateboarding. Not only does advertisement contribute largely to societal eating norms, it can also affect how our minds perceive food and encourage us to eat more. The problem with this is that we are now be triggered by the advertisement and forced to eat mindlessly. Whatever the marketing team chooses to say, that is what people perceive as right. For example, the director of marketing for Kellogg says that, "Gripz provide kids with the freedom to have a great-tasting, convenient snack anytime, anywhere (Food Processing)." Despite how true the words he says are, this doesn’t promote a sustainable way for kids to eat. By stating this, the director of sales immediately takes the reins for how snacking will be done in children’s lives. You may say, “what is wrong with kids snacking with an easy option that claims to be healthier?” The answer to this lies in the facts provided by us from our government: “childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years (CDC).” As society encourages the production of larger, easier to consume meals and snacks, the obesity rate follows the increase. This justifies how mindless eating generated from the lack of enjoyment is leading to higher obesity rates across the country.
Its easy to get lost in all of these statistics and claims by people across the board. It is good to look at people who study dietetics and nutrition for their careers. Michael Pollan, who has written many books on the sustainability of our eating culture, touched on the topic of obesity in America in regards to our way of eating. Pollan discusses that three of every five Americans are now overweight, and some researchers predict that today’s children will be the first generation of Americans whose life expectancy will be shorter than that of their parents (Pollan). This is a very drastic change in the progression of our society, and it can be attributed to the eating patterns in which we live amongst today. Pollan continues to discuss that these patterns when he says, “Big food companies are pushing supersize portions of unhealthful foods on us and our children. We have devolved into a torpid nation of couch potatoes (Pollan).” Not only does he reaffirm the claims made in this paper, but he also continues to continues to recognize the rationale behind why companies promote their products the way they do. He states that corn is such an integral part of our food as a society and there are copious amounts of corn being produced around the world. When food is inexpensive and plentiful, people will eat more of it and get fat. Since 1977, the average American’s daily intake of calories has jumped by more than 10 percent. This in exceedingly interesting because of the facts provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention: from 1985 to 2010 the amount of obese people has grown almost 30% across America. These numbers align perfectly to display the steady increase and correlation between the idea of mindless eating and obesity.
On top of the heavy statistics, it is crucial to acknowledge the real examples of mindless eating within our eating culture. In an paper written by Jamie Horwitz, he explains how food is becoming an additive to situations, similar to cigarettes, instead of how it used to be viewed and consumed as a definitive (Horwitz). This allows for the idea of food to be associated with cigarettes. Not only does this remove the necessity aspect of food, it opens a new perspective of how we as a society are moving away from food acting as a definitive and replacing its functionality as an addictive habit that doesn’t benefit the consumer. Horwitz also touches on the idea of how businesses market their products toward a convenient snacking concept as opposed to having a sit-down meal where you are indulged and conscious of what you are consuming. He uses the example of how Campbell’s soup was once only sold in cans where it had to cooked and served, however, now they sell their product in a microwaveable and drinkable cup (Horwitz). The idea of mindless eating can be seen so vividly through the trends and examples he discusses. As the times move forward, so does the convenient, fast style of eating; the same goes for the obesity rates.
On top of the health affects and societal affects that mindless eating causes the American people in the long run, the financial problems are becoming apparent as well. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion in 2008; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight (CDC). This is a very high number considering that 35.7% of American adults are obese. This percentage appears to be increasing as well. This shows that something needs to be done to control how people eat in our society in order to strive for a healthier eating style that is less influenced by the subconscious demands exhibited by large food businesses. The health effects of being obese also include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death.
Even if our society needs to choose between indulging in a meal or feeling restricted from what they want to eat, something needs to be done to establish a stronger sense of enjoyment had by Americans during meals to combat mindless eating. Mindless eating habits clearly have a direct correlation to the increasing obesity rates over the past 20 or 30 years. This can be seen by the trends in the marketing of large food chains as well as rushed lifestyles we all live. The studies and knowledge put into this topic by very influential nutritionists justifies the fact that increasing obesity rates can be linked to mindless eating habits help by our society.
References
"Cornell University Food & Brand Lab." Cornell University Food & Brand Lab. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/research/beating-mindless-eating.html>.
Horwitz, Jamie . "Eating at the Edge." Blackboard DU. University of California Press, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <https://blackboard.du.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps
"Kellogg's comes to Gripz with new products for 'tweens'." Food Processing. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <www.foodprocessing.com/industrynews/2005/448.html>.
Magazine, Michael PollanThe New York Times. "The Way We Live Now: The (Agri)Cultural Contradictions of Obesity | Michael Pollan." Michael Pollan. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/the-way-we-live-now-the-agricultural-contradictions-of-obesity/>.
"Obesity and Overweight for Professionals: Data and Statistics: Adult Obesity - DNPAO - CDC." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html>.
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