Obesity, Be Dammed!

19 May 2012

About the Author

The author of The Nutrition Post.

This is a terrible, tragic, and obviously extremely important subject in its own right -- just not one in which I have any particular expertise.

Since my work doesn't relate directly to drowning -- other than having been a lifeguard and swim instructor earlier in life, and having taught all my kids, and many others, to swim -- I want to talk about my usual topic -- epidemic obesity -- because I think the two are more related than most people realize.

The Institute of Medicine recently released its report on what it will take to fix the problem of epidemic obesity. Timed to coincide with the Weight of the Nation scientific conference and mini-series on HBO, the intent -- well served, I think -- was to draw the nation's attention to the urgency of this issue more forcefully than ever.

The urgency relates to the dire human toll of rampant obesity and its consequences among children and adults alike. I have addressed this topic on any number of prior occasions, and I trust you don't want to hear about it again. There is a point at which doom and gloom simply cause us all to tune out.

14 Comments

abbienormal May 20, 2012 at 8:26 pm Log in to Reply

Mind boggling.
demisfine May 20, 2012 at 8:18 pm Log in to Reply

Sugar, in every form, is poison. Apples juice shouldn't require sugar to make it palatable. Yogurt doesn't need fructose syrup in it.
demisfine May 20, 2012 at 8:16 pm Log in to Reply

Meanwhile, schools around the nation are using sponsorships from Pepsi and Coke to fund their athletics and artistic programs.
demisfine May 20, 2012 at 8:15 pm Log in to Reply

The stories of urban "Food deserts" are so disheartening. People are surrounded by options, but none that are healthy or affordable.
Carolyn Kostopoulos May 20, 2012 at 4:57 pm Log in to Reply

part 3 we need to strip their profits by withdrawing our compliance. we need to stop being mindless consumers. subsidized though they are by the government they bought, they will go out of business if we stop buying from them, not all at once perhaps, but incrementally in any ways we can imagine being healthy and trim and not having to swallow handfuls of pills everyday just to stay alive. the drug companies and the food companies have imagined it and they will fight to the death to keep it from happening. don't let them
Carolyn Kostopoulos May 20, 2012 at 4:56 pm Log in to Reply

part 2 food companies make money when you buy goodie gummy bears, but not when you eat a carrot from your garden. many towns have ordinances against growing anything but grass in your yard, which in turn makes money for the fertilizer companies the pharmaceutical companies make money when you are sick and fat and on a lifetime array of drugs for chronic illnesses which might have been avoided by eating the carrot and riding your bike to work you are so right when you call for a not for profit foundation dedicated to solutions but with every corporation pouring money down our so-called representatives throats, what do you think the odds are of that happening without a bloody revolution healthy food cannot be found in a bag of low salt, high fiber, baked snack chips or in lower sugar soda. rejiggering the formula to capture market share won't so it. and yet you can't expect Mac Donalds and Coca Cola to act in anything but their own self interest. we must take back our freedoms one at a time from corporate control. the first step would be turning off the television. the second would be filling your larder with foods that don't have bar codes. in addition to being very tasty and good for me, my lunch today makes me especially happy because every dollar i gave to a small farmer was a dollar that a multinational corporation didn't get from me.
Carolyn Kostopoulos May 20, 2012 at 4:54 pm Log in to Reply

i'm reading this article, ironically, while eating lunch- a homemade enormous salad of kale, arugula, lettuce, 3 colors of bell peppers, two colors of tomatoes, broccoli florets, sliced cucumbers- all local and organic from our farmers market, doused in organic olive oil and balsamic vinegar and dressed up with cracked pepper, raw pecans and a lovely raw milk french blue cheese. you've summed it up nicely, doctor, but you left out the all important culprit in everything- corporate control. from the foreclosure crisis to unemployment, from our lack of decent medical care to our over dependence on pharmaceuticals, from the invasive TSA in our airports to the lack of regulation on wall st, from the refusal to label GMOs to the invasion of family farms, from the destruction of our democracy to the endless wars of aggression, EVERYTHING that's wrong, and the reason it can't be fixed, can be blamed on the corporate control of our government and hence ourselves. oil companies make money when you buy a car and drive it to work; they don't make money if you walk or ride a bike. whole cities have been planned to encourage maximum driving and minimun walking. appliance companies make money selling you the latest dishwasher or clothes dryer. they don't make money if you hand wash your dishes and hang your clothes out to dry.
oldgeek1 May 20, 2012 at 4:46 pm Log in to Reply

The poster child or more accurately billboard child is Christie in NJ
Heroldness May 20, 2012 at 3:39 pm Log in to Reply

Of course he's right. The rub is that diet and exercise work. Unfortunately, having fought weight problems from childhood until my senior years I can tell you, they never work for very long. There has to be a reason for that that they have yet to discover....................and I doubt it will happen in my lifetime.
theotherED May 20, 2012 at 2:34 pm Log in to Reply

Accesibility is another huge problem. For those on lower budgets, eating healthy is very hard to do. The levee ideology can be implemented into our society with a little help from the fast food corps...how can you expect people (mainly middle class and teens) to eat healthy when you can get a burger for .99, but a salad cost $6 or $7...food for thought.
abbienormal May 20, 2012 at 2:17 pm Log in to Reply

Pepsi and Coke know that their companies are in trouble. I was just at a conference where a representative from one of those companies said as much. They know that they are now, or soon to be, considered the new equivalent of the cigarette companies. Their trouble is that they don't know how else to make money (that is my comment, not theirs). It is stunning that $150B a year in obesity related illnesses hasn't raised more concern among legislators. Even here in MA we cannot pass a soda tax.
Dana DuGan May 20, 2012 at 2:04 pm Log in to Reply

May I add this piece of advice as well: it is the types of foods that is being devoured that contributes most negatively to the diet issue, ie: heavy corn syrup, chemical additives,processed, non-organic, and GMO foods that aren't even recognized as an actual "food item". Cutting back, and excising is fine, and important, but nutrition is where the solutions lie.
kymber23 May 20, 2012 at 1:15 pm Log in to Reply

I read so much great information here on health, nutrition and weight loss. I agree with just about it all but although there are some great ideas and suggestions they are not very realistic with the USA being such a money hungry, greedy capitalistic country and people for the most part eating garbage because they "like it"! Poverty, stress, lack of free time, emotions are really just excuses to eat the foods people LIKE and not exercise, something most people do NOT like. There will never be enough documentaries and articles to starve obesity in this country. It's sad, blunt stated but true. Money and the easy way out will always prevail because that is in the DNA of most Americans. We have always been a spoiled people. There are those that will do the seemingly impossible and get their eating habits together and exercise regularly - change their lives for the better, but many will not because they just don't want to. Everyone needs to take personal responsibility and alot of common sense. We are at the point where all of this information is starting to mush together and I;m listening and never had a weight problem, exercise regularly and get excited to eat right and healthy. Imagine how the fat person feels. It's a bit overwhelming and their sheer thought of processing it all would make me want to reach for a bag of chips.
trsdek May 20, 2012 at 1:06 pm Log in to Reply

The Doc is right. When the craving to really pig out on bad food. I just go to youtube and watch the music video "What did I Just eat?" Then I feel guilty if I try to eat something bad...

Obesity, Be Dammed!

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