This is the reason why education might actually work to a degree. I still remember when cholesterol was a big bugaboo, and I saw a jar of peanuts that proudly claimed "No Cholesterol!". Of course it didn't have any cholesterol... only ANIMAL products contain cholesterol! But that doesn't mean that peanuts are the best choice of food all the time.
What is "good" and "healthy" changes emphasis every decade or so. Now we're seeing signs of "whole grains" and "fiber" on everything... but you still have to read the labels to see exactly what you're getting.
And that takes education in label reading, in the most current health news, etc.
From my experience, obese people tend to be among the most well-informed on health issues. We know a lot about what's healthy and what's not, especially as it relates to weight loss. But DOING it is where the disconnect is. I'm not sure how the government could do better with that, and I'm pretty sure I don't really want them getting that involved.
I'll agree here too, that education is the one way I believe the government can really help. My mom and I had a conversation a while back about food when I was growing up, and she was telling me how she felt bad because she was giving us foods that she THOUGHT was healthy. She didn't know that fruit juice is almost as bad as soda, or that granola bars aren't actually that healthy.
That being said, I really feel that we all have a personal responsibility to take care of ourselves. I don't blame my parents for being over weight. In the end, I believe much of weight management is about portion control. Yes, we should be eating balanced diets... but if we have 5 servings too many of even the healthiest foods every day, we can all still end up obese. That's more of a self-control issue.
I wouldn't trust the government to tax unhealthy food and actually use the money for health programs. Our economy is in such bad shape, the majority of that money would probably be sent away for use by military programs or bailout programs, or some other use that is completely unrelated. I would rather take my own, hard earned money that I save by not buying junk food, and investing it into my health on my own.
On the other hand, I am a school nurse in an urban district and my school is in a very poor neighborhood. Many kids are overweight because for some parents, it is cheaper and easier to eat junk than to buy and prepare healthy meals. Don't flame me here, I personally believe that eating right is cheaper, you can't get much cheaper and healthier than dry beans and rice. However, many working families don't have the time or even cooking skills to prepare these types of meals. Produce is expensive, chips are cheap.
That's interesting - has anyone ever read Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America? I read this a few years ago and some parts of it really opened my eyes. Basically, the author decided to try to do different minimum wage jobs and try to "live".
One of the things she mentioned was the infrastructure of eating cheaply. Sure, rice and beans are cheap. But you must have a stove, a pot to put the beans in, a spoon to stir the beans, spices, etc.
I am like the others that don't think this is a black and white issue.
For the most part, it is my fault that I got as obese as I did. I think that I had some influences that I could not control or did not know how to control, but if I had not eaten the huge portions of junk that I ate, I would not have gotten so large. ......My fault and my responsibility, not that I was bad or evil but I was very unhealthy........
I also do not believe that government can solve all our problems. Too often, for my taste, the government acts like the parent that needs to make the decisions for us children. I don't want the government as my parent.
I don't think that additional taxes on certain foods will solve the problem and will penalize people that can not afford the penalty.
On the other hand..........
some of the things that the government now require, such as nutritional information on food products have been a huge help for me. Back when I first counted calories as a teenager it was very difficult to get the calories in many items.
I think that the government should provide some protection for us, such as truth in advertising. Products advertised as "healthy" should have to back up those claims.
My 2 cents worth
Last edited by time2lose; 06-03-2009 at 11:34 PM.
Reason: removed the extra "not" that changed my whole meaning!
Refuse to Regain had a pretty good post today that I thought was applicable (A discussion of the book The End of Overeating - which I have on hold at the library, hope it comes soon!):
*snippet*
"Why is it that we consumers are the ones who wind up bearing the burden of control? A small section toward the end of the book suggests that “we” must learn to redefine food and the people who make it. If we change the way we look at bad foods, Kessler suggests, and start to look at them as we now look at tobacco, society can change. The problem with the comparison of food and cigarettes is that the tobacco industry has always been a miniscule force when compared to the behemoth food industry.
An article in one of this month’s medical journals echoed similar themes to those laid out in Kessler’s book. “Recently,” it states, “there has been growing support for the idea that we can train our appetites to match our energy expenditure, overcoming physiologic and environmental urges to eat.” The article then goes on to poll various obesity experts and asks, “Can human beings retrain their appetite? If so, how?”
***
All of these suggestions, all of these tricks, tips and machinations are in the service of giving us strategies to battle a food giant run amok. Worse, they suggest that our own weaknesses are to blame for the problem. I am completely bewildered by the fact that the responsibility of the food industry continues to be ignored. Its role in creating our current environment is so huge, so all-encompassing, that its invisibility in this discussion is almost incomprehensible"
*snippet*
I share her outrage and absolutely adored this blog post.
Incredi-thread! I love all these viewpoints, and the research that everyone has done! Personally, I got myself fat all by myself. I took the second and third helpings, chose to curl up with a beer and a book instead of hoofing it to the pool, and decided to cave to the slippery siren song of the double cheeseburger.
That being said, and because no one's tapped the conspiracy viewpoint yet, I took away from "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and other sources that the US cannot AFFORD to have everyone get healthy any more. There's too much of the economy tied up in mass food production, in acute healthcare related to nutrition-linked disease and accelerated aging, and too much corruption in the government driven by the lobbyists for the pharm and food industries.
The only way to change this is with your dollar, your pen, your e-mail. Write to the company with the crappy fake ingredients, and say, "I'm sorry, I'm taking my business elsewhere because you are using *this* ingredient, and I'm going to inform everyone I know about what this stuff does."
I don't think the government is going to step in, unless somebody dismantles or at least reorganizes the FDA. When cherry producers are sued by the government for linking to studies on their websites that PROVE that a natural food can improve health - and statements are made in court that "only DRUGS are allowed to say they improve health" - it's pretty darn clear that the government is completely incapable of saving anybody from anything.
and because we usually have bags of books to carry.
and?
i used to hate fridays cos it was the heaviest day for me. my rucksack used to weigh around 20lb+ sports kit towles shoes etc. then sciences books (very thick).
its good exercise and as my dad says character building
Last edited by slimmingsi; 06-04-2009 at 02:18 PM.
