Obesity Scapegoats It has been popular to blame the rise in obesity on the proliferation of cheap, calorically dense “junk” foods. Most analysts begin their story in 1980, since that is when the government began advising low-fat diets and instead everyone took up sugary carbohydrates instead. Economics journalist Matthew Yglesias notes that there has been weight gain since the 1880’s. The average BMI of 18-year-old men entering military academies has been rising since 1850 when the data first began collection. And there needs to be a discount since the average age of the population has also been rising. Another variable to be considered is the increasing average age of the population. Just as there are no sil...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.