Finding Our
Way Back
to Healthy Eating
A Conversation with David A. Kessler
Amy M. Azzam Our kids eat too much—and what they’re ating drives them to eat even more. In this interview with Educational Leader- ship, David A. Kessler, former commis- sioner of the Food and Drug Administra-
tion (FDA) under Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill
Clinton, discusses why so many people overeat and what
we can do to help children develop better habits.
In his new book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control
of the Insatiable American Appetite (Rodale, 2009),
Kessler describes how processed food and changing lifestyles
are setting people up for a lifetime of food obsession.
Kessler is a lifelong health advocate. Under his watch,
the FDA enacted regulations requiring standardized
nutrition labels on food. He’s also known for his role in
the FDA’s attempt to regulate cigarettes. Dr. Kessler is a
pediatrician and has served as the dean of the medical
schools at both Yale and the University of California.
In your new book, The End of Overeating,
you paint an alarming picture of our obsession
with food. What exactly is overeating?
The journey for me started with some simple questions: Why does that chocolate chip cookie have
such power over me? Once I start eating it, why can’t
