America's Health Crisis and the Culture War: It's Time to Seriously Talk About Obesity-Preface
America's Health Crisis and the Culture War: It's Time to Seriously Talk About Obesity-Preface
By Carl J Chan
Obesity is not just a medical condition. It is a mirror held up to the soul of a nation—reflecting our values, our culture, our habits, and, perhaps most critically, our collective denial.
America is in crisis. Today, more than 70% of adults are overweight or obese, and the trend shows no sign of slowing. But what if this isn’t simply a failure of willpower or a matter of poor personal choices? What if obesity is the most visible symptom of something deeper—an erosion of cultural wisdom, familial structure, and spiritual nourishment?
This book was born out of urgency—and a stubborn belief that the truth still matters. For too long, we’ve tiptoed around the elephant in the room. Chapter 1, Culture War & Obesity, confronts this head-on. Obesity is not just a health crisis—it is a culture war. One that pits profit-driven corporations and relativist ideologies against the basic truths of biology, discipline, and communal responsibility. From the hijacking of hunger by corporate marketing to the twisted normalization of obesity in the name of “body positivity,” we are witnessing the collapse of common sense and the rise of food-based nihilism.
But culture begins at home. In Chapter 2, Eating Psychology & Family, Values, and Aesthetics, I explore the battlefield within: our minds, our families, and our plates. Here, we uncover how processed food mimics the grip of nicotine, how aesthetic decay shapes dietary habits, and how emotional eating has replaced emotional awareness. Through parenting, psychology, and the rediscovery of beauty in natural foods, we can reclaim the lost art of eating well—not just for ourselves, but for the next generation.
Chapter 3, A Global Appetite for Health, shifts our gaze outward. Why are obesity rates lower in East Asia? Why do Europeans walk more and weigh less? What can we learn from the Mediterranean way of life? And as AI, lab-grown meat, and digital health tools enter the scene, how can we wield these technologies wisely—without surrendering our humanity in the process?
Finally, Chapter 4, Obesity Prevention – Reference Recipes, returns us to the ground. Real food. Real practices. Real change. Through vibrant, accessible recipes and reflections on the healing power of natural eating, this chapter offers not just inspiration, but a blueprint. It is a call to action—to nourish not only the body, but also the soul.
This is not a diet book. It is a cultural reflection.
We are at a turning point. Either we continue to medicate the consequences of our collective food addiction—or we rediscover the joy, the beauty, and the moral clarity of eating well. If we can transform our relationship with food, we may just begin to transform our relationship with ourselves—and with one another.
This book is for those who are ready to break the spell. For those who are tired of euphemisms, afraid of the future, and hungry for change.
Carl J. Chan
August 2025