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US may have passed peak obesity
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Weight gain has proved far harder to combat than almost any other public health issue in history.
PHOTO: AFP
John Burn-Murdoch
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The year 1963 was surely one of the most significant of the 20th century. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Martin Luther King delivered his “I have a dream” speech, and the Beatles recorded and released their debut album. But for all the huge political and cultural events, it was arguably an even more momentous year for public health: 1963 was the year cigarette sales peaked and began to fall in the US.
A generation from now, we may look back on 2020 in a similar way. Yes, there was the small matter of a global pandemic, but this may also have been the year obesity levels ceased their inexorable rise and began to descend.
