Obesity figures are a matter of habit

Regarding "Diet and sleep" [News, May 17], there are facts that would complete the story. It is true that the United States has the highest average body mass index, a measure of obesity, of all industrialized nations.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Americans have the highest per-capita caloric intake in the world. Couple that with the consumption of "foods" with high glycemic content and low nutritional value such as refined sugars and you set the necessary conditions for obesity and diabetes.

If fast food, practically a euphemism for low nutritional value and high glycemic index, is so unhealthy, why do its establishments experience such popularity? The answer is usually attributed to cultural mores and identity parameters.

As an example, in Italy an Italian will on occasion hazard the international corporate fast food joint, but will not make a habit of it, primarily due to cultural conditioning. In the United States, fast food has become a staple of our diet and a component of our collective psyche. If we ate healthier, we would be healthier.

Gilbert Picinich, Lindenhurst