We’re getting increasingly dense. Not in the sense of being stupid – although when I watch shows like La vie rurale I have my doubts – but rather in the sense of expanding waistlines. This increased portliness can easily be observed through a variety of little things, such as a greater selection of clothes for large-size people, wider seats at the movie theatre or arena, and bigger standards for coffins.

Statistics are alarming: one out of every three Americans is obese. Canadians, Europeans and even Asians are slowly catching up. It’s an insidious worldwide phenomenon. Some even speculate about a global pandemic, a sort of morbid “globesity” that is destroying our quality of life, increasing our mortality rate, and eating away at our resources, which are already dwindling in our healthcare systems. For the first time in human history, there are more people suffering from overindulgence than from starvation!

David Landes, an economist, once wrote that there were three types of countries on this planet: countries where inhabitants are worried about where their next meal will come from, countries where inhabitants eat to survive and finally, countries where hordes of people like Michèle Richard spend astronomical sums of money to lose weight!

The obesity phenomenon is spreading and we’re hunting for the guilty parties. Not surprisingly, the agri-food industry is a prime target: too much sugar, too much salt, too much fat, too much junk of any kind. McDonald’s fast food chain is fighting like a devil in holy water ever since certain lawyers, specializing in the “tobacco battle”, have taken on the issue. There are billions of dollars at stake.

However, most studies identify a multitude of causes. There are genetic, social, and cultural factors, and of course and most importantly there are troubling and disturbing factors. Take a pen and paper and do the math yourself: on the one hand, an ever increasing consumption of energy – large fries, Big Mac, pizza, chips, super size portions – on the other hand, an ever decreasing expenditure of energy, elevators, cars, remote controls, computers. The result is easy to figure out: in 30 years, the average caloric consumption has gone from 2,080 to 2,347! On its own, this phenomenon is enough to explain the expanding girth of Americans.

Public authorities have been called upon and are taking on the issue. They’re studying all kinds of projects: education programs for young families, improved product labelling, special taxes on fast or fat foods, no more fries and Pepsi in school cafeterias, forced negative advertising for large corporations (imagine a good looking young man with a humongous belly bouncing around on your next bag of chips?).

I admit that this massive government intervention into the food sector makes me uneasy. This is not about controlling cleanliness – the purpose of which is to prevent people from being poisoned – but rather about changing behaviours, which is a very sensitive issue.

It’s true that the number of smokers decreased when the government started playing a bigger role. The same applies for alcohol consumption. But where do it stop? Whatever happened to individual accountability? Will we soon require people to fast once a week? To brush their teeth three times a day?

Don’t laugh!

There’s a fine line between a Ponce Pilate type of government – one that washes its hand of it all – and a Big Brother government – who takes care of EVERYTHING. Each time, we must ask ourselves if the good of the collective is truly superior to our loss of independence and individual liberties. And in this respect, it’s never black or white.

This said, let’s get back to our respective love handles, to get rid of them there is only one recipe, tried and true: eat wisely, eat less and exercise more. The only problem is that with today’s consumer as ruler this formula requires a lot of work, and that’s not a good selling point.

All in all, don’t be surprised to see the government stop by at dinner time.