Over much of the planet, a large part of the economy is devoted to producing things called “food,” which, as Childhood Obesity News never tires of pointing out, would baffle interplanetary visitors. The explorers would be tapping on their translation devices, which would seem to be out of order, and sending them back to the technicians for recalibration.
The Earthlings seem to be pretty smart about some matters, but how do so many substances become itemized as “food” that not only lack any trace of nutritional value, but actually contain ingredients that do measurable harm?
Alien historians might search through the records of earlier times on Earth, when humans lived in small and isolated groups. In those simpler, more innocent days, in diverse eras and locations, many societies agreed on certain basic tenets. It is quite likely that a stranger wandering into the settlement would be offered, at the very least, water — and probably food, too.
Later, there would be time for the inhabitants and the newcomers to discover their points of philosophical disagreement and start to become suspicious of each other. Yet and still, an initial sharing of sustenance was very likely to be the first move.
Progress?
As society became more crowded and complicated, food would play a major role in gatherings and celebrations of every kind. For a joyous occasion like a wedding, immense efforts would be made to not only serve up nutritious substances, but to commemorate these significant occasions by offering special treats. The sharing of rare delicacies has become a matter of pride, and often of barely-concealed competitiveness, as hosts vie to be admired for their exceptional generosity.
Of course, there are still many places where food is scarce and limited to a few basic items, so that today’s menu of rice and fish will tomorrow be replaced by fish and rice. But marketing embraces almost the entire globe to the point where even the most remote locations receive shipments of modern, processed stuff called “food,” available to anyone who can afford it. And yet, basic nutrition is affected not positively, but negatively.
Those curious alien scientists would be hard-pressed to find a human population anywhere on Earth not affected by phthalates, which get into food by way of packaging, and have some connection with obesity, in addition to numerous other known and unknown negative effects on the human system.
An ugly example
Then, there is Bisphenol A (BPA for short), which also migrates from food packaging into the consumers of that food, and appears to be connected with not only obesity but several other undesirable consequences in the human body. For instance, as previously mentioned, when a high level of it shows up in the urine of a preteen girl, she is twice as likely to be obese as her friend whose lab results indicate a lower amount of it.
In the USA, the stuff was banned a while back from being used in any object that a baby might make oral contact with. But it is in everything, including bottles and the linings of metal cans that food is packaged in. More recently, it was found to be a frequent invader of the gut microbiome, a realm which we earnestly do not want invaded by nasty chemicals. No one who has been paying attention is surprised to find that its presence in that inner sanctum is associated with childhood obesity.
But although linkage has been noted over and over again by various researchers in different countries, apparently it is difficult to make the case for causation. So, for the time being, we must wait patiently to learn the amount of physical and financial havoc it has caused, specifically in the child and adult obesity realms.
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