National Post

The invention of the Dorito: The moment when Americans decided to relax and get fat
If America goes calamitously into decline, will historians of the future describe it as the first empire in history destroyed by an uncontrollable epidemic of mass snacking?

It seems possible. Many a dietician already sees it that way. Millions of Americans make themselves sick by routinely stuffing themselves with fatty, salt-heavy, food-like substances.

They eat meals that are too big and sip over-sugared drinks. But the core of the issue is snacking. Americans have come to believe that any activity, especially watching television, needs to be accompanied by high-calorie munching. (Canadians, as usual, closely follow them; other nations fall into line behind us.)

Mass obesity, on a level never before approached in the world, is the result. A historian of the future, looking back, may well decide that obesity produced society-crippling levels of heart disease, diabetes, etc., which collapsed the health system, which in turn destroyed the economy.