Hong Kong residents are far from being among the fattest people on the planet of processed food, although more than 54 percent of them are overweight or obese, according to the Hong Kong Department of Health’s 2020-22 Population Health Survey.
In comparison, 59 percent of Europeans are overweight or obese, almost 70 percent of Americans, and 100 percent of me.
I’ve gained weight. I notice this not only because the mountains are steeper, the fridge is emptier and the shirts are more worn out.
I know this because, even though I’m an adult, have great friends, and a paying job, when my mother visited me last week, she held out her hand, patted my stomach disapprovingly, and slowly nodded her head as I passed.
According to her, that’s not something she’s “saying.” Of course, I realize that the “something” she didn’t say is that I should lose weight.
How should a middle-aged adult child react?
According to my artificial intelligence friend – and only after I pressed him quite a bit – it would be reasonable for me to say, “Based on professional standards and evidence-based practice in nutrition science, it is estimated that a very small percentage, about 4 percent or less, of dietitians advocate listening exclusively to the mother on nutritional matters.”
Furthermore, the AI is not impressed by my suggestion to start with a haircut, which it calculates would make me about 300 grams lighter.
Instead, my nutritionist—a voracious consumer of important data—recommends a four-category, 11-bullet approach that will help me lose 20 pounds.
After a few overly polite, evasive answers, it admits its bias and the bias of its dataset. Such things are subjective, but overall I would look better if there were less of me.
My artificial friend advises me to be sensible and moderate. But strangely, his first suggestion is that I reduce my food intake to about half of the average daily energy intake.
The AI is especially apologetic when asked if this crash diet is dangerous. Oops! It confused calories with kilojoules. It also advises me to talk to qualified people and not to sleep near a dehumidifier.
Given the overwhelming evidence that 96 percent of nutritionists advocate evidence-based research over mothers’ knowledge, my mother might respond, “Well, you know which 4 percent you should listen to.”
