Don: I don't get it.

Yael: What?

D: Something like half the people on the planet are overweight or obese, right?

Y: Well, I don't think it's that much . . . but obesity is a problem.

D: So anyway, what I don't get is why we don't just put more money into educating      people about healthy eating. If people knew more about the health risks associated      with obesity, they'd probably eat better.

Y: But this year the U.S. federal government will spend over one billion dollars teaching      kids about healthy eating.

D: Great!

Y: Maybe . . . but an Associated Press review of over fifty school-based nutrition      programs found that they mostly fail. It seems that no matter how much teachers talk      to kids about eating fruits and vegetables, it doesn't make much of a difference in      what they actually eat.

D: But why?

Y: Nobody knows! I guess there's a big difference between knowing that eating      vegetables is healthy and actually doing it. And there are just so many factors that      contribute to obesity--genetics, family eating habits, lack of exercise.

D: Does this mean that nutrition education is pointless?

Y: Not at all. It could be that we just haven't found the right way to get the message      across. Maybe the key is changing not only people's attitudes towards food but their      actual behavior . . .

D: Which is really hard to do.

Y: Exactly. The frustrating thing is that we know how to curb obesity: eat less and      exercise more. It's simple in theory, but getting people to actually do it is a problem      that scientists haven't solved.  

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