> I'm suggesting the idea that maybe we as a society should better educate around our relationship with food. I believe it would make a difference - just not immediately.
It's a bit tautological that if we did something better things would be better. Better education around our relationship with food would start with people understanding that better education about our relationship with food won't help people suffering from obesity.
In light of that, and barring the many other ways one can combat obesity themselves, it would probably be beneficial if everyone, in general, knew all about the pitfalls of disordered eating and knew more about how to combat that trap, and knew why that actually matters for themselves and the people they care about. I've observed people enable each others' obesity over and over. I've observed people reinforce horrible habits and be unsupportive of others' efforts to combat those habits. People don't know shit about diet and food and spread their ignorant, lazy attitudes and behaviour to those around them. Why make a real meal when you can just order $50 of takeout to feed the whole party? Then, if you don't eat "enough", everyone is on your case because "you must be starving" and "why are you eating so little?", because they are totally uneducated about the possible challenges people face when it comes to food. The more people know about this stuff, the more it benefits everyone. I still think this also circles back to the "passing it to your kids" thing, because it's now a multi-generational problem.