Lately, it seems like there are only two things in the news: health care and obesity. Clearly, these are not unrelated (obesity costs this nation $147 billion a year in health care costs), but now that health care reform has passed (yay! and btw, there's surprising good news in that bill!), let's move on to the problem of obesity, a topic which is littering the media lately.
The problem of childhood obesity has become Michelle Obama's primary cause these days. Last week, she spoke to the Grocery Manufacturers Association (and the GMA responded), and she wrote a cover story for Newsweek, which was accompanied in the magazine by articles on the culture of corpulence, a discussion regarding how doctors might help patients control their weight, and photos highlighting the problem.
Jamie Oliver is also making this issue into his life's work. He's taking on the obesity of the entire town of Huntington, WV in his new show, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (I'm so excited about this program, I'm actually going to watch reality television this year!). (UPDATE: not everyone is a fan.)
This is all for good reason. Americans, and alarmingly, our children in particular, are fatter than ever (and, wow! even Jesus is supersizing his meal)! Something needs to happen -- and it needs to happen soon, or we are going to lose a whole generation of people to obesity-related illness.
If you know of anyone who is trying to fight the power -- via portion control or other means -- here are a few foods that will help stop the overeating (and, as always, try to shy away from the animal fats).
We're just getting started on this. Further updates as events warrant...
UPDATE: check this out!
The problem of childhood obesity has become Michelle Obama's primary cause these days. Last week, she spoke to the Grocery Manufacturers Association (and the GMA responded), and she wrote a cover story for Newsweek, which was accompanied in the magazine by articles on the culture of corpulence, a discussion regarding how doctors might help patients control their weight, and photos highlighting the problem.
Jamie Oliver is also making this issue into his life's work. He's taking on the obesity of the entire town of Huntington, WV in his new show, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (I'm so excited about this program, I'm actually going to watch reality television this year!). (UPDATE: not everyone is a fan.)
This is all for good reason. Americans, and alarmingly, our children in particular, are fatter than ever (and, wow! even Jesus is supersizing his meal)! Something needs to happen -- and it needs to happen soon, or we are going to lose a whole generation of people to obesity-related illness.
If you know of anyone who is trying to fight the power -- via portion control or other means -- here are a few foods that will help stop the overeating (and, as always, try to shy away from the animal fats).
We're just getting started on this. Further updates as events warrant...
UPDATE: check this out!
5 comments:
I was going to make a comment here and decided against it. I decided to go write in my own notebook. :-) See http://kafox.blogspot.com/2010/03/food-politics-as-religion.html
Yer comments handle html funny. I.e. I shouldn't have used any. 'Sokay. People can cut 'n' paste.
I fixed it. And you're right about food policy and religion -- I'd say really, just food and religion. I'll own it. And I certainly see it in others -- and in the way our corporate culture nurtures ignorance for the benefit of their bottom lines (do we really believe that highly refined, incredibly sweetened cereals make for a good breakfast simply because they are "fortified?" Really?!?).
I try to look past that at the real science behind food and nutrition, but I'm not a scientist, so I try to find come credible experts who are good at explaining this stuff.
But beyond that, there's a certain amount of faith involved. For example, the debate still rages on with regard to fats -- no one can tell us for sure how much of which fats we can safely consume. So, I've taken the position that errs on the side of caution: don't eat all that much, and vegetable (unsaturated) fats are preferable to animal (saturated) fats. It doesn't mean anything has been banned from my diet, including meat, cheese or butter. But if I'm cooking and the recipe calls for some fat and I get to choose, I'll reach for the olive oil rather than the butter.
But, I'm going on here when I planned to comment over there... so I'll stop now and see where that discussion takes us...
Thanks for the fix. (Oh, dear that didn't come out right. ;-) )
We are pretty much on the same page (that doesn't surprise me). You wonder why people don't realize sweetened cereals aren't really nutritious; that's like asking why certain Christians don't realize Intelligent Design isn't intelligent. The two may have something in common: The decrease in scientific awareness and the acceptance of such, the lower level of education/knowledge one has at the end of today's high school, the anti-elitist thinking in a large segment of the population and advertising all play a part in what Americans know and how they use what they know.
The good news is that I think it'll be easier to get people to eat better, than it will be to convince (some of them) that dinosaurs did not walk the earth with men.
Haha! Well, THAT is good news! Nicely put.
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