The problem with that advice is that the reasons people eat unhealthy foods and fail to exercise often have nothing to do with willpower.
For example, I have a friend with a very limited sense of smell, so she doesn't really get any enjoyment from food unless it is relatively fatty.
I'm personally not overweight, but if I ever do start getting overweight I'll be in trouble because I've had some medical issues that make it difficult to get my RDI of exercise.
Also don't forget the vast majority of the population has extremely limited information about health. For example, only 6% of parents have even HEARD of the recommendation from the AAP that kids under two shouldn't watch any TV. Not that people should treat the AAP as the absolute source of truth, but if you don't even know what they're saying then clearly you aren't doing your job as a parent.
This isn't just because people are stupid. It's because our media is owned and supported by companies who make physical products. Because of this if Nintendo releases a new videogame system they'll sell millions the first day, and yet by age 18 over 80% of girls haven't gotten enough calcium to prevent osteoporosis. We have great systems for spreading the word about new physical products, at least if they're made by big companies, but our processes for spreading the word about new best practices are virtually non-existent.
By placing blame solely on the individual you're also failing to understand the last 60 years of social science research. The lesson of Milgram, Asch, and many others is that by and large the decisions we make are less than 50% the result of any intrinsic quality or character within ourselves, and are mostly the result of the environments we're surrounded by.
Most people may not have the detailed info you have, but they aren't even acting on the info they have.
Like 94% of parents (not that I am a parent), I've never heard of that specific AAP recommendation and I don't even know what AAP stands for. I do, however, know that I shouldn't expose my kids to much TV (I'd stick to an hour a day, tops).
Similarly, I don't know off the top of my head how many calories I should be eating. I do know that fusilli with broccoli == good and ravioli with cream sauce == too much. That fat guy with the potato chips knows they are making him fat (even if he doesn't know the exact amount), but he chooses to consume them anyway.
Most likely he also knows he can use the google to learn more information.
For example, I have a friend with a very limited sense of smell, so she doesn't really get any enjoyment from food unless it is relatively fatty.
I'm personally not overweight, but if I ever do start getting overweight I'll be in trouble because I've had some medical issues that make it difficult to get my RDI of exercise.
Also don't forget the vast majority of the population has extremely limited information about health. For example, only 6% of parents have even HEARD of the recommendation from the AAP that kids under two shouldn't watch any TV. Not that people should treat the AAP as the absolute source of truth, but if you don't even know what they're saying then clearly you aren't doing your job as a parent.
This isn't just because people are stupid. It's because our media is owned and supported by companies who make physical products. Because of this if Nintendo releases a new videogame system they'll sell millions the first day, and yet by age 18 over 80% of girls haven't gotten enough calcium to prevent osteoporosis. We have great systems for spreading the word about new physical products, at least if they're made by big companies, but our processes for spreading the word about new best practices are virtually non-existent.
By placing blame solely on the individual you're also failing to understand the last 60 years of social science research. The lesson of Milgram, Asch, and many others is that by and large the decisions we make are less than 50% the result of any intrinsic quality or character within ourselves, and are mostly the result of the environments we're surrounded by.