Considering the Contribution of US Agricultural Policy to the Obesity Epidemic: Overview and Opportunities

Agricultural policies help shape which, and in what relative quantities, foods are produced and consumed in the United States. This review of existing US agricultural policies reveals some important contributing factors to negative trends in overweight and obesity and helps to identify possible strategies for redirecting such policies so as to blunt and reverse those trends. Unlike expensive and often unsuccessful treatments of obesity, changes to agricultural policy that could help prevent obesity may not only be “nine tenths of the cure” but a highly effective public investment.