I'm still reeling from the Milken Institute's Global Economic
Conference, and though there were some great seminars, breakout sessions, and lectures on China, the environment and real estate, the track that had my
attention was health. Many of
the panel presentations were on the problem of obesity and health.
And yet, with one theme of the conference as health, everywhere I turned, there were perfect examples of why we are getting fat. The continental breakfast of huge muffins topped with sugary crumbles and enormous bagels offered with cream cheese was cleaned out within an hour, but the platter of fresh fruit had to be taken away with half the fruit still left on it. Mid-afternoon snacks were cookies and brownies and plates of cheese. There were a few granola bars, but the plate of about five times as many cookies was bare before any of the granola bars were touched. (Not that Quaker Chewy Granola bars with chocolate chips are really any better.) My dinner on Tuesday night was a 2" thick rare steak that was the diameter of a CD, on a pile of buttery, creamy mashed potatoes.
No wonder the workforce is getting fatter. And to think that the first book signing of the conference on Monday morning was Mireille Guiliano of French Women Don't Get Fat.














