Government dietary guidelines, unintended consequences and public policy

In the years following the government promotion of a low-fat diet, obesity in America has reached almost epidemic levels. Were the federal guidelines a direct cause, a catalyst for unintended consequences or merely a well-meaning but unimportant factor" In a study published in the March 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Paul R Marantz, MD, MPH, Elizabeth Bird, AB, and Michael H Alderman, MD, all from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, suggest that the government issued these recommendations based on limited scientific data and assumed that no harm would result, but the evidence now suggests otherwise. They caution that without proper studies, such guidelines...

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