The Fattening of America, by Eric A. Finkelstein and Laurie Zuckerman

Health economist Eric A. Finkelstein and business writer Laurie Zuckerman are the co-authors of The Fattening of America: How the Economy Makes Us Fat, If It Matters, and What to Do About It, a book that explores the economic impetus behind America’s obesity epidemic. The Fattening of America discusses the financial impacts of obesity on society, the economic incentives that encourage consumption of high-calorie foods, and the $49-billion-dollars-per-year weight loss industry. Finkelstein argues that while there's serious money being made from widespread obesity, employers, the government, and taxpayers are stuck paying for the epidemic's (considerable) costs.

The Fattening of America is not a weight-loss book, nor is it an exposé-style dissection of the food industry. Instead, it attempts to explain the economic factors behind our expanding waistlines—which means, unfortunately, that it features more than its fair share of graphs, statistics, and terms like “utility maximizing” and “adverse selection”. Finkelstein and Zuckerman are entertaining writers, and they’ve chosen a fascinating subject, but you might want to make yourself a cup of coffee before wading through the section on Market Failure, which kicks off with these scintillating lines:

“A market failure exists when the private sector cannot reach the optimal allocation of resources on its own. The optimal allocation occurs at the price where the amount of a product or service that consumers demand is equal to the amount that suppliers wish to provide....”

Finkelstein spices up the drier sections of his book with frequent references to his family. He ponders the economic factors that contributed to the obesity of his "Uncle Al" and "Cousin Carl", he shares the fact his father feels that his mother could “stand to lose a few pounds”, and he chats about his wife, making comments like “God forbid, [she] might have to get a job”, and marveling that she so rarely walks the half-mile to the grocery store. (Surprisingly, his wife, who stays at home with their three young children, isn’t jumping at the chance to take a mile-long stroll with three kids and few sacks of groceries! I know—I’m shocked, too!) These sections successfully personalize Finkelstein and Zuckerman’s theories, but one hopes the people involved are either A) highly fictionalized, or B) blessed with extremely forgiving natures.