by Peter J. Nebergall, PhD
I've been reading a lot of different articles about childhood obesity and
its impact on long term health. The phrase: "experts say..." must
surely be the most abused in the language. What experts? And where are they
looking?
I've heard "suburban sprawl" blamed for overweight kids. That's silly.
Go to the inner cities, and look at the children. If increasing "suburban
sprawl" was the significant agent of obesity, these ghetto kids (whose
environment is just as it was for their parents and grandparents) wouldn't be
so quickly getting heavier, faster than the suburbanites. Hypothesis disproved.
Moviemaker/prankster Morgan Spurlock recently produced a shockumentary film
called "Supersize Me," in which he ate only fast food for a month,
a LOT of fast food, and did not exercise. He gained a lot of weight, and his
cholesterol shot up. Spurlock would have us blame the fast food industry (and
it is easy to eat a lot of calories at a fast food restaurant) but he knowingly
set out to consume three times the "maintenance amount" (1800 calories)
a sedentary adult needs to maintain weight -- and one could just as easily do
this at the local barbecue, all-you-can-eat catfish restaurant, or kitchen table,
with biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Bad food choices.
Spurlock has a point, however. Fast food is so easy to overeat. Ralph Nader
called the double cheeseburger "a weapon of mass destruction." We
are subjected to an incredible cacophony of adverts urging us to have more,
that "bigger is better," whether it be soap powders, washing machines,
SUVs, or "$6 burgers for 3.95." The fast food marketing industry is
certainly part of this problem -- but so are we, the consumers -- and all this
"Madison Avenue" only works if WE fall for it. We don't have to.
Another study found that, if offered more food, at the same price, people take
it. "We're getting something free! Yippie!"
Right. Isn't that why "all you can eat" buffets are so popular? Go
watch, and, if you can, take a foreigner with you, someone from a country that
doesn't have such places (most don't.) They'll be shocked at the overeating
-- and you should be too.
We, and our children, ARE gaining weight. There are several causes, and overuse
of "junk food" outlets is one of them. But, if we don't cook healthy
food, and don't provide our children an alternative, what else can we expect?
Lack of exercise is an issue. A BIG issue. Our explosive expansion in waist
sizes perfectly maps on the cutback or cancellation of serious school physical
education classes ("for budgetary reasons") and on the arrival of
"virtual reality" computer games. When you want an adventure, do you
rent one, or do you go have one? If you move less, its just the same as if you
eat more. You gain. What else can we expect?
I've written about the "trick food" diets that would have us "eat
all you want" -- if you buy it from THEM." When they work, is it not
because their stuff is so expensive its high price limits consumption? They
are neither an economical nor a healthy answer to obesity -- just another product
to sell.
Obesity is a problem for all of us. If you have diabetes, or if you have the
genetic background for type 2, it can make it worse. Excess weight can bring
on the symptoms, and what was once "adult onset" diabetes is now arriving
in pre-teen years. More years with diabetes means more time for serious complications
-- so we need to act, now, before more damage is done.
What can WE do? A bunch. We can stop "supersizing it," and remember
Gluttony was one of the "Seven Deadly Sins" -- for good reason. We
can count our calories, and stop when we've had enough. We can commence an exercise
program. We can stop pretending it isn't better to be fit. It is.
Obesity is a solvable problem. We can all help; by action, and by good example.
Let's roll.