Waistland: The (R)Evolutionary Science behind our weight and Fitness Crisis.

WAISTLAND: The (R)Evolutionary Science behind our weight and Fitness Crisis DEIRDRE BARRETT

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The incidence of obesity in the U.S. population is greater than ever. In this book, Barrett, a Harvard psychologist, describes why maintaining a healthy weight is often a losing battle and suggests why more-radical approaches to weight loss may be easier to follow than common-sense measures. The human body evolved to survive in the food-scarce environment of our hunter-gatherer past, she explains. For our ancestors, the physical exertion associated with foraging for food kept weights down. Today, most of us lead sedentary lives. Fast foods and supermarket convenience foods not only seem more appealing than unprocessed foods but also require little time to prepare. Barrett offers psychological perspectives for changing how we view food and weight loss and ways of incorporating exercise into our daily routines. She even suggests methods for rewiring the reward circuitry of the brain to reinforce healthy eating habits. Norton, 2007, 252 p, b&w illus., hardcover, $24.95.