Headlines

As aired on WNPR, November 4, 2010.

The Destructive Food Relationship

San Fransisco Is Banning the “Happy Meal” - Should Connecticut?

San Fransisco is banning The "Happy Meal" – not just from McDonalds, but from any restaurant linking toys with fatty, sugary foods.

Some deride moves like this as a prime example of the "nanny state" in action – but many public health officials say the battle over obesity is one we have to take more seriously.

Former FDA commissioner David Kessler has taken on the food industry with his new book The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite.

He explores how our brain chemistry has been hijacked by the foods we most love to eat – foods full of fat, sugar and salt. He joins us to talk about what he calls "America’s largest public health crisis."

We’ll also hear from a former Hartford Courant journalist who weighed more than 350 pounds. Now that he’s dropped much of that weight – and kept it off for the past 20 years, he has written a book about his addiction to food.

And we’ll hear about a UConn study that uses fancy lighting techniques to try and make kids eat healthier.