[Photograph: Amazon]

Anyone who pays half a wink of attention to the news these days is well aware that the U.S. is facing an obesity crisis. And this crisis is quickly becoming a global problem, with nearly a billion unhealthily heavy people worldwide. So how can we attempt to revert our behaviors and keep our collective weight in check? Well, Daniel Akst shines some light on the struggle between temptation and self-restriction in his new book, We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess.

Akst's book is not a diet book. While he does discuss food and eating habits, he also delves deep into the psychological conditions that dictate our ability to rein in our impulses. From Sigmund Freud to Brian Wansink, Akst highlights researchers and their studies that have shown individuals falling victim to bad habits throughout history.

On the one hand, it is easy to discount our poor self-control as simply a result of evolution. When it comes to eating, for instance, are we not hardwired to crave and seek out the sweetest, fattiest foods available? Such an evolutionary tactic has historically gotten humans through many cold, barren winters. And how are we to resist the addictive effects of nicotine, especially as teenagers whose frontal lobes, source of rational decision-making, are still developing?

But at the same time, we live in a culture that largely is not accepting of such lapses in judgment. Pick up a doughnut or a cigarette and surely someone nearby will make an assumption about your character. So Akst is in a prime position to equip the reader with some tools to prevent and cure bad behaviors. Unfortunately, he doesn't do quite enough with that potential.

Akst does indicate some potential solutions to individual habits. If you can't quite get yourself to sit down and do your homework, for instance, try enlisting a family member or friend to provide constant reminders of your duties. If you want to lose weight but just can't go it alone, find a similarly-challenged friend and make a pact - he who loses the least weight by a certain date must pay a fine to the other. Working with others is the most effective way to keep bad habits in check.

However, Akst's book tries a bit too hard to encompass all self-control deficiencies. He touches on psychological and evolutionary theory, begins to question whether obsessive-compulsive disorder and alcoholism are really "diseases" as such, and makes a few too many self-concious jokes about procrastination. And oh, yeah, he talks about food a bit.

I would have liked to have seen much more discussion of the psychology and difficulties of food temptations within American society. The doughnut on the cover, as well as an introductory chapter about food and self-control, imply that the book will continue to return to this topic throughout. However, Akst lets food fall by the wayside in favor of a shallower look at many fields. While some interesting tidbits can be extracted from We Have Met the Enemy, it's less a food book as a detailed history of failed resolutions throughout time.

About the Author: A student in Providence, Rhode Island, Leah Douglas loves learning about, talking about, reading about, and consuming food. Her work is also featured in Rhode Island Monthly Magazine.