U.S. Not Only Obesity Contributor

In the global give and take, it seems only fair that the blame for bloating the world go to the nation that gave it rivers of Coke, mountains of Big Macs and an endless fitness-quashing entertainment feed from Hollywood. But not so fast.

America may have led the world down a path lined with fast food and soft drinks that has left 1.7 billion people battling the bulge, but experts say there's plenty of blame to go around.

"America has been a contributing cause in what is a very complex disease," said Jim Mann, an expert on global obesity and nutrition professor at New Zealand's University of Otago. "But it is not the cause. Nothing is as simple as that."

The United States is a tempting scapegoat for the global obesity epidemic. Its worst behaviors and foods, even its language for them — Supersize me! Want fries with that? — have permeated the world's diet and lexicon.

Consumption has been glamorized by America and the world eagerly bought into that, said Neville Rigby, policy director for the International Obesity Task Force. Food has replaced cigarettes as the cool must-have American accessory.

This Westernization — in some circles, Americanization — of the global culinary landscape no doubt contributed to the fattening of the world. But many obesity experts say it's hard to know where to place the blame.

"What we're looking at is not solely an American phenomenon, but a transnational corporation phenomenon," Rigby said. "Of course, there are multinational corporations on both sides of the Atlantic."

Those companies certainly helped the spread of cheap fatty and sugary foods, but some experts say even blaming them may be unfair. Several decades ago, there was fear of a world food shortage.

"A lot of chief executives are really in a state of shock right now," said Andrew Prentice, an expert in international nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"You have to have some sympathy. You can see their point, that they've produced this stuff cheaper and cheaper, feeding the world etc., and now suddenly we're all saying stop doing this, it's causing us a great deal of damage."

Much can be attributed to changes in how the world eats and works. Physical labor is declining and more people than ever are gaining unprecedented access to cheap, high-calorie food.

Though he doesn't doubt the power of America's food culture, or the appeal of junk food itself, Mann said those factors don't diminish individual choice. More people simply are choosing to eat like Americans.

"We could act independently, but we choose not to," he said.

Choice also applies to foreign governments, which Paul Zimmet, director of the International Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, said have played an equal role in allowing poor diets to become a health crisis.

Governments haven't done enough to make healthy foods affordable and physical fitness accessible, he said.

Barry Popkin, a leading scientist in the field of nutrition in developing countries, notes that in many parts of the world the United States isn't the only influence.

"American television gets a lot of the blame, but in some parts of the world the BBC dominates and people see how the British eat, not how the Americans eat," said Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Even the growth in portion size, though certainly popularized by America, may have European roots. Rigby said the bigger-is-better mentality was exported to the United States from Central Europe, where it is associated with hospitality.

"You're being kind to people when you give them food," he said. "Give them more food. Give them extra."

Where most experts don't hesitate to blame the United States is on solutions.

Recently, the United States has been criticized for allegedly yielding to the food industry and trying to dilute a World Health Organization health plan calling for less sugar and fat in people's diets.

"If I were to blame the United States for anything," Mann said, "I think it would be for the power of the food industry to influence government policy of the United States, which has been imposed worldwide."

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