Report: National strategy needed to fight fat
 

Got this from a pal through email! Was very surprised in some ways at how bad the problem apparently has gotten! Not ONE state reports a decline in obesity! :(

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet....udy/index.html

One of the things they don't mention here is that they have changed the weight charts in recent years and people who were previously classified as normal weight are now being classified as overweight. They're comparing apples to oranges and telling you it's the same thing.

Personally I'm not in favor of a national strategy to do anything. I'm not a big fan of social engineering. Individuals should make individual choices.

Robin, how did the weight charts change? Do tell... I'm curious. The only weight chart I know of is the BMI chart, where if your BMI is over 25, then you're overweight... right?

I believe they shifted the BMI categories a few years ago to make the "overweight" category kick in at a lower number. Not sure what that solved.

yeah, some of those charts say 24 is now the BMI overweight limit. And I'm honestly not sure what it solves, consdering some people are naturally built differently than others. For instance, I have a friend who is a female, 5'3" and 150 pounds, BUT she looks MUCH smaller. 150 is technically overweight for a 5'3" person, but she has a VERY large bone structure, is naturally stocky, and SCARILY muscular - she works out, eats healthily, and looks great in her current form. I believe BMI charts are full of crap... they are mere guidelines, you know? And this is coming from someone who is not currently overweight by either standard...

I'm all for a little intervention :)

After all, look at what the food industry has been doing to us for all these years. You can't get through one day without being bombarded with ads for fast food and cookies. It's everywhere - tv commercials, strategic placements in movies, magazines, on the sides of buses, even in schools. Now THAT's social engineering! Supermarkets have more processed crap than real or natural foods. Junk becomes normal. Obesity becomes normal.

Why not counteract that with a massive campaign for health and fitness? Put it out there, where we can't ignore it. Over, and over, and over again. Just like the way the food industry manipulates us.

Because this would not be profitable, it would in fact cost money. And who’s gonna foot that bill, the government with all that extra money they have hanging around?

Ain't capitalism grand? ;)

I for one do not feel manipulated by the food industry. No one tells me what to eat but me, the rest of it is just frivolous noise. Boils down to personal choise IMO.

I DO feel manipulated. I'm an advertiser's dream: I see something delicious on TV and think, "I MUST HAVE ITTTT!!!!" EVERYTHING looks good to me since I'm on a lifestyle change. I don't call it a diet because I'm not following any particular plan, just developing some healthy habits. Every time I see that Sonic Cookie Dough Blast commercial, I just want to eat my TV! I live near Sonic, too... it takes A LOT of willpower to not go! :lol: So I've decided once I hit 135, I'm gonna get me one!:D

But ANYWAY, most food advertised on TV is CRAP food because that is what tastes good to us as a society. I feel a bit taunted every time I turn on my TV, and tell myself that I *choose* not to eat these foods because they're loaded with fat, bad carbs, and one meal usually has more calories than I'd allow myself in an entire day!

I heard there is a show in the UK called "You Are What You Eat" that is aired on mainstream TV - everyone on that show gets an immense (and often disgusting) diet analysis and then gets put on a strict diet to lose the weight. While the strict diet is a little silly (sounds like a detox diet but for a longer duration of time), the analysis is great. They need one of those shows over here in the US!

I love Suzanne's idea, but like Shananigans said, obtaining the funds for this campaign would be difficult. :(

PS: Shananigans... every time I see your display name, I think of the movie "Waiting" - ever seen it?

Watching tv and commercials is a choice though :) DH and I got tired of all the commercials on tv, so we cancelled our cable and subscribed to Netflix. Life is good without commercials. Actually, we are fascinated now days by commercials when we see them, it seems so strange.

People have been given a personal choice and overall the choice seems to exercise less and eat more which is costing us a fortune in health care. Health care costs are killing us all in taxes and also in wages and overall benefits. I'm lucky in that my employer foots the bill for a large portion of my health care but I still pay $600/year for health care and $20 each visit for the cheapest option available to me, an HMO. I go to the doctor 2, maybe 3 times per year for small stuff, I try to eat fairly healthy, I get regular exercise and hopefully my chances of having something major go wrong are slim.

If you finance your own health care, expect to pay $600/month or so along with whatever copays. This doesn't include the amount you pay in taxes to help finance health care costs. Of course you are paying for insurance and hoping that nothing major goes wrong. The prices have been skyrocketing for years and a big part of it is the effects of eating poorly and getting little exercise across the nation.