Unpopular Opinion #4: Americans Are Turning Into the Humans Caricatured in the Movie "Wall-E"

Until America starts treating the cause of obesity and food as something that can be addictive to some people, no surgery or magic pill will end the obesity epidemic.

I remember watching the movie “Wall-E” with my kids when it came out in 2008. Beyond the dystopian portrayal of Earth, I thought its depiction of the people who survived Earth's destruction in a giant spaceship was biting. Sixteen years later, that caricature of what happens to humans due to technology just might be more true than not.

Let me explain.

First, for decades, we’ve had fast food restaurants and pizza delivery drivers that allowed us to grab food on the go quickly or get a pizza dropped off for parties or a busy night. Later, we had services that would delivery boxes of food containing all the stuff you needed to make a meal. Now, the introduction of wide-scale food delivery services (e.g., UberEats and GrubHub) is taking what was just a convenience for busy people to a whole new level. Today, we have gig economy drivers who will deliver whatever food you want (fast food or slow cooked) and grocery stores that won’t just shop for you, but also will bring your groceries out to your car or home, too. 

At first, it made sense people used these services when facing the gauntlet of kid after school schedules competing with two-parents working. That made such services super convenient and helpful. Based on what I have observed, however, those services are now increasingly being used by people who are just too lazy to go get their food or groceries themselves. The services aren’t allowing them to move their kids around or get more work done; rather, the services are just letting them remain sloth-like on their couches as they stream shows or scroll through social media. 

Even when people go out to get their own food, the number of people who sit in their cars versus walk inside to get their meals has jumped. In many cases, those people prefer to wait LONGER in a drive-through line than park and walk inside to get their meals where lines are non-existent. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve mentally marked a car that would have been in front of me to see where that car is after I’ve gone inside and grabbed my food and finding the car still in line after I’ve driven off. It is pathetic. Hell, we now have e-bikes that allow people to “ride” bikes without actually having to peddle. When did pushing your feet in a circle while switching gears to deal with hills become so hard we needed to automate it? It is nearly like the moving couches in "Wall-E."

Not surprisingly, America’s obesity rates are skyrocketing.

So, how do Americans deal with their growing waistlines directly correlated to their penchant to have food delivered or remain in long drive-through lines? Do they change behaviors and diet? Do they get physically active to shed the weight? Nope. To deal with their unhealthy relationships with food, Americans initially opted to undergo gastric bypass surgeries to shrink their stomachs. These surgeries involve literally binding their stomachs so there is less room for food, which makes it hard and uncomfortable for patients to overeat…at first. Not surprisingly, because these people never dealt with their excess eating habits, they eventually figure out how to resume their ways by eating more frequently or re-stretching their stomachs, thereby gaining back whatever weight they had lost.  

With the release of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy, people can now inject themselves with a drug that inhibits their appetites. The GLP-1 drugs were developed to help people with diabetes, but users soon discovered the off-label benefit to deal with obesity. The drugs work wonders and do so rapidly. Celebrities now covet GLP-1 drugs so they can lose weight for appearance purposes. The GLP-1 drugs aren’t cheap, so Average Joes and Janes are finding it hard to get approved to use the drugs under their insurance. They can’t afford to pay out-of-pocket like the wealthy celebs can.

As with gastric bypass, once off the GLP-1 drugs, users usually put the weight back on. That result isn’t a surprise, as failing to deal with their unhealthy relationships with food isn’t “curable” by a surgery or a magic pill. Moreover, we don’t know what the long-term impact using GLP-1 drugs will be on users. I remember the fen-phen (fenfluramine-phentermine) diet drug scandal when people again used those drugs off-label to lose weight only to discover the use of those drugs resulted in damage to their hearts and valves. 

The ugly truth is nothing will solve America’s obesity epidemic other than tens of millions of people doing two simple things: (1) consume no more than 2,500 calories per day (or whatever your do nothing burn rate is) and (2) cut the cord to their smartphones, telephones, and delivery services and get moving every day. The math is fairly simple and straightforward. If you eat more than what your body burns in a day, you will gain weight; if you eat less than what your body burns in a day, you will lose weight. Doing the latter gets harder as we age do to our bodies ramping down our metabolism to conserve calories given 400,000 years of evolution in which older members of humanity typically got less to eat for their reduced contribution to the tribe.

I don’t write any of this lightly. My dad died of morbid obesity and I struggle every single day to eat less than I burn because I absolutely LOVE all the bad foods I shouldn’t eat. Nonetheless, I workout plus walk 7,000+ steps every day while being as smart as I can be throughout the day about what I eat. Most days I win the battle, but losing days come with the war. I’m not a doctor or a health care expert, but I strongly believe our health care system treats obesity the wrong way.

Dealing with my dad in the last few years of his life, it was clear to me that his addiction to food was no less serious than drug and alcohol addicts' need for drugs and alcohol. The language my dad used when you denied him food was identical to language used by drug and alcohol addicts who get denied their fixes. While recovering from bypass surgery at a rehabilitation center, to allegedly thank the staff for their kindness and help, my dad ordered pizzas for everyone when in reality his apparent act of kindness was his clever way to get himself a few slices of pizza on the sly…just like a drug addict getting his fix. He would rather deal with open heart surgery, blood transfusions, and other treat-the-symptoms-not-the-cause medical interventions instead of reducing his food intake. Eating made him feel really good. 

Until America starts treating the cause of obesity and food as something that can be addictive to some people, no surgery or magic pill will end the obesity epidemic, especially as technology makes it easier than ever for us to get our food without moving a muscle.