Am I My Body’s Keeper?

The central problem, according to Hyman, is that diagnosis and treatment are only relevant after a medical condition or disease develops, but do nothing to prevent it in the first place. And to do that, Americans would have to greatly change the way they eat and exercise. Hyman noted that when he went to medical school around 40 years ago, there was not one state with obesity rates above 20 percent of the adult population. Today there is not one with less, and two-fifths of American adults would be classified as obese.

The average American male weighed between 150 and 160 in the 1960s. Today that figure is 200 pounds. For women, the changes are even worse. The earlier figure was between 110 and 115 pounds; today it is over 170 pounds. Diet is the principal culprit. Ultra-processed foods constitute 60 percent of the average adult’s caloric intake, and 67 percent of that for children.

Despite the proliferation of gyms and ubiquitous runners, the average American is a couch potato. In 1970, two-thirds of kids walked to school; today less than 12 percent do. In 1960, half of all jobs involved some sort of physical activity; today less than 20 percent do. Three-quarters of American teens are physically unfit for the military.

And these unhealthy habits of diet and exercise directly impact health. Sixty percent of American adults suffer from one chronic condition requiring ongoing medical treatment and limiting daily activities, and 40 percent from two such conditions. When Hyman was in medical school, type 2 diabetes was not even a diagnosis. Today it is common.