Doesn't this just prove the fact that the US education system was never good in the first place (especially for the lower and middle class)? There's absolutely nothing scientific or moral about forcing a kid from age 6 to sit in a classroom for 8 hours straight twiddling their thumbs longingly looking outside the window. Forcing them from a young age to do regimented work that is clearly meant to be done at a later developmental stage will just cause them to hate it and zone out, which is what caused the problem the author is describing. If you're not truly engaging with kids, how will you get the results you want?

None of those suggestions will solve the fact that the education system itself is incredibly flawed and near collapse.

Why the hell does everyone bring up calories for fat loss? I lost 45 pounds by not counting my calories at all (only in the beginning, when I didn't know any better). You lose fat by reducing insulin resistance, not by food intake. I didn't even exercise, I basically sat all day and those pounds flew off. I did intermittent fasting, learned to cook, and slowly started replacing my diet with healthier foods. I'll be honest, I lost a good portion by going keto and avoiding the majority of carbs but I quit because there's no way I could keep a diet like that long-term. Now I eat complex carbs and indulge in junk food once in awhile, with my diet being mostly whole foods. I keep a steady 150ish at 5'8.

The more important factor is ALWAYS the psychological factor, which NEVER gets brought up in weight loss advice. If someone is obese or nearing obesity, they have a food addiction. They keep eating because they're filling a void in themselves. I'll be honest, I had to deal with it and if you're overweight and trying to lose weight you'll have to deal with it too. When I was overweight, I was also depressed and in an abusive environment so I ate the pain away. It's related to emotional nourishment, which unfortunately not many people get enough of these days and it fuels food addiction. It fuels any addiction, really. Most likely there's no one around the obese person who understands them and has any type of real, deep connection with them as a person so they eat to keep that void away. At least that's what it was for me, maybe it's different for someone else. That's the real reason someone can't lose weight, there's an underlying psychological problem fueling it. No mentally healthy person is overweight. No amount of "calorie counting" will solve the empty void someone who's obese is trying to fill.