I wanted to post this on LJ, but LJ is broken today. So I will post it here for now, so I don't forget.
"Ultimately the war on fat is both a cause and a consequence of the transformation of the Protestant work ethic into the American diet ethic...For upper-class Americans in particular, it's easier to deal with anxiety about excessive consumption by obsessing about weight, rather than by actually confronting far more serious threats to our social and political health. We may drive environmentally insane SUVs that dump untold tons of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere; we may consume a vastly disproportionate share of the world's diminishing natural resources; we may support a foreign policy that consists of throwing America's military weight around without regard to objections from our allies -- but at least we don't eat that extra cookie when it's offered to us." - from "The Obesity Myth"
"(It's) as if each of us bears a patriotic duty to fight our appetites, to struggle mightily against our eating even as we slather our very souls in the rich nectar of slaughter and science." - Carey Tennis (Salon.com advice columnist)
I think these are interesting ideas in terms of the way desserts and other "bad" foods are portrayed in our culture (not just in the media, but in the attitudes and disorders of the people, particularly women). Cheesecake is "sinful", giving in to food is a forbidden delight, but you're expected to feel guilty after "indulging".
The Protestant work ethic may be coming into play here, but obviously there's also a lot of Puritanism in the way we treat food, or at least food we consider "bad". We treat food like sex, and then we take the same approach to it that Puritans would. Rather than looking at dessert as something you should be able to fully enjoy, and teaching people how to eat healthily and responsibly so that enjoying dessert is not harmful, we teach people that dessert is bad, sinful, and something to feel guilty about wanting. If we do eat cheesecake, it should be done quickly and quietly with minimal enjoyment, behind closed doors if possible (this is especially true for people with eating disorders, but even those who don't have a disorder often feel more comfortable eating alone). If we eat with other people, women particularly are often socialized to spend the whole time talking about how they shouldn't be eating this or that, and how they will have to do something to burn it off later, rather than relaxing and enjoying their food. It's about purging guilt, and earning absolution from our sins. We are not taught to eat well in this culture. We are not taught to eat healthily. We are taught to eat with guilt in mind, and we are constantly taunted by the exaggerated pleasure of forbidden foods - so of course, those foods are all the more inviting while "allowed" food seems boring in comparison.