U.S. no longer world's top fast food addict

For anyone who has yet again added dieting to their list of New Year resolutions, a study out January 2 finds people "torn" between "food as fuel versus food as pleasure." Is this a revelation?

Steve Garton, global head of media of market research firm Synovate, said of the 9000 people the company interviewed, "On one hand, more than half of all respondents agreed that they eat whatever they want, whenever they want. On the other hand, more than two thirds say 'I watch my food intake carefully and strive to be healthy' which rather flies in the face of the first claim."

But the surprising find is that the UK is now marginally ahead of the U.S. in its addiction to fast food, heading the list of 13 countries surveyed. This is the nation whose government backed TV chef Jamie Oliver's endeavours to bring a decent healthy food program into school cafeterias. (He couldn't bring moms on board, however. They were discovered sneaking up to the school gates at lunch time with secret supplies of pizza to pass through the bars to their carb-deprived offspring.)

Participants in the Synovate research identified three causes to blame for rising obesity. 40 percent said food was the "main culprit". Gosh. A fifth blamed "unhealthy food choices", and 13 percent blamed the individual. Isn't it "the individual" who makes those "unhealthy food choices"?

"The results show there's a world of people who cannot deny themselves that hamburger or extra piece of pizza, but probably make themselves feel better by washing it down with a diet cola," Garton said.

It's probably marginally better than washing it down with a rum-and-Coke.  

If you can't deny yourself something you know is probably not good for you, don't feel guilty. Enjoy every single bite of it. Because you're more likely not to need to repeat the indulgence quite so soon if you remember it with relish instead of a self-loathing that needs another comforting consolation.