A left-wing take on obesity

The Sunday Washington Post’s Book World section carries an incredibly sane review of a hilariously deranged book on obesity. According to the reviewer, for example, the author of the book “writes with conviction that in the South and Midwest ministers are encouraging their flocks to overeat in an effort to pacify the poor. He cites as evidence a single controversial study suggesting that religiosity is a predictor of obesity. The more religious one is, it seems, the more overweight one is, unless, he says, one is Jewish, in which case one is less likely to be obese. According to his logic, this is presumably because Jews consider gluttony a serious sin, while Christians have downgraded it to one of what he calls ‘the little sins.’ One wonders if Critser has ever met a Jewish mother, but in any case such leaps in logic do not inspire confidence in his rigor.”
According to the author of the book, personal freedom, tax cuts, corporate welfare, the medical profession, and racially biased marketing by fast food chains are leading causes of obesity. The review is a breath of fresh air: “The heavy set.”