Can't STOP Obesity
 

The other day, I went to drop off my brother. There was a STOP sign that had "can't" and "obesity" scribbled on it. It read "Can't stop obesity." I got a good laugh out of it but I started to think:

Can we stop obesity as an epidemic with today's society?

I think it's going to take a major change in how we live in order for the epidemic to come to an end. It's probably going to have to be a grass-roots movement, because no government official is going to promote the curtailing of advertising for foods and activities that support obesity.

How many are willing to turn off their TVs, to stop buying the processed foods that are advertised? There are no more TV advertisements for cigarettes, but people are still smoking.

Georgia

I agree and its too bad that the government does not get involved.Its so hard.Especially raising children and trying to teach them healthy eating in spite of all the advertising.They want what tastes good, and that is unfornately not what is good for them.

America must be the only country where our poor are fatter than our wealthy. Poor quality foods are cheap.

I don't look to government for solutions. We can't fob off our own willful ignorance because they didn't offer enough free education. There are classes geared toward low income individuals already- if they are willing to go and learn then sacrifice to implement the change. Anyone can access the internet and learn enough to make a difference in their weight. The knowledge is there and free for the taking.

All government can do is remove incentives to eat like crap. If food stamps couldn't be used to buy junk food, it might help. Or not. There's always a way around the system if you choose.

The best teacher will always be action= consequence. Allowing people to feel the consequences of choices instead of swooping in to save them from them is the fastest and most effective teacher. And the one that few people have the stomach for because it involves allowing failure in order to promote success.

I agree that fast foods and junk food should be taxed...it'll just be really difficult to get a standard for "junk food". You can bet producers of these products will lobby to have influence over that definition!

I think we have such a complex way of life in the western world. We spend so many hours working, running errands, and participating in activities that disconnects us from experiencing a meaningful life. Life is so...full. Many don't have/make time to spend creating healthy meals and enjoyable mealtimes.

There are no more home economics courses to teach people how to care for their families and themselves. And Martha Stewart is so busy selling products to make us "feel" like we're living a beautiful life that we're frantically chasing after some ethereal food-centered, possession/acquisition-focused dream, tantamount to some sort of domestic elitism.

(Pardon me, I'll get off my soap box now...sorry!)

Eating healthy does take time and extra effort. We'd have to make so much from scratch in order to have more control over our diets. And some families just don't have that luxury. Perhaps someone needs to develop a "fast food" chain with really healthy meals and snacks. And also, huge advertising campaigns should be developed that shows how awesome it is to feel healthy and strong.

Georgia

I've worked in public health all of my career, and I'd like to add a few thoughts.

-there is a great deal more that government can do. In Quebec it is illegal to advertise high sugar content foods during the hours and during the programs that children are more likely to watch

-a successful approach has been neighborhood gardens in urban area, and communal kitchens in church basements, or anywhere (introduce people to different types of foods and preparation)

-reinstitute home ec. types of courses and make them mandatory for boys and girls

-make gym and physical activity required for boys and girls ALL the way through school

-turn OFF the TV

-remember that there are many places to fall down between knowledge and behavior change..it's not just about education, and education is just the beginning

-one very serious problem is the lack of affordable grocery stores, with good food, in low income areas in urban centers

Above all, it is a complex problem. And, as long as food that is bad for you is cheaper than food that is good for you, we'll have a problem.

By the way, most people have quit smoking. Only about 20% of the population smokes.

I took a ton of those and what I learned was: how to make cakes and frost like WHOA, make a ton of fattening desserts and entrees. Nothing healthy.

I agree. We made chipped beef on toast, mac & cheese and melted cheese on crackers. They probably didn't have the budget for anything but junk. A lot of grocery stores are starting to label the nutrition data on the shelves. Our local one puts a score on many foods that indicate whether it's a good nutrition bargain or not. They also offer classes where they stroll through the aisles with a dietician and offer advice on reading labels and making smarter choices when shopping. They do charge for the classes but I think it's pretty nominal.

I have the opposite belief. I think no one smokes anymore and I'm amazed when someone mentions that they smoke or are trying to quit. No one I personally know smokes but thats me.

As for turning off tvs, I don't have kids so its a slightly different case but I don't watch any commercials because I only watch DVDs these days. It is much easier and affordable to watch DVDs these days as opposed to the early VCR days. I'm actually amazed when I do see commercials as I almost forget what they are like. Although my inlaws have never had cable and never will and they raised 3 kids.

Of course I think schools should be involved in healthy eating but schools have had a long history of taking money from interest groups/companies in order to subsidize school costs. The dairy industry was the first to step into schools and then Coke and other manufacturers tried to step in although I think there has been some push back in some areas.

Physical education has been cut back a lot in schools and it is something that should be encouraged not cut back. Healthy eating classes should be taken with information on how to buy and prepare foods. I do remember home-ec which I took for half a semester in junior high and all I can remember is ruining a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

I think the main cause of the obesity "epidemic" is the total lack of information 95% of Americans have about what causes weight gain and loss. I mean, I sat through countless "Health and Nutrition" classes in junior high and high school, yet it wasn't until I was 24 and signed up for Weight Watchers that I started to get real information about "calories in, calories out" and the actual requirements our bodies need. Adults in our society don't understand how to control their weight (otherwise these crazy "fad" diets wouldn't be so popular), so they can't teach kids how to control their weight either, and the cycle goes on and on.

I do think there's a lot of hope for the future, though. For starters, look at our new First Family! Wow, talk about setting a great example for health and fitness, Michelle is buff! :D And it sounds like there's going to be a real focus on fixing our food and nutrition problems in the new administration. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see the crazy subsidies for huge corporate farms ending... those subsidies are the reason we have crap like High Fructose Corn Syrup instead of sugar, and Partially Hydrogenated Oil instead of butter. Corn and soy are artificially cheap because the government has been paying these subsidies to keep them that way. If corn and soy have to compete with the rest of the crops on a level playing field, then we're going to start seeing a lot more variety and wholesome foods in our food chain.

I was also really encouraged to see the new nutrition labeling laws in NYC last week! The rule is that anyone selling food that has 15 or more locations nationwide has to display the calorie count of each item in the same font and size as the price. Wow!! So now you have every average Joe who walks into a Dunkin' Donuts considering the difference between a 510 calorie corn muffin and a 270 calorie croissant. That's so incredibly empowering. I could easily see this law, like the smoking ban laws, extending across the country, and I think it's going to have a huge impact on both consumer decision-making and also what the restaurants themselves choose to serve. I bet we're going to see some menu changes at Outback, that's for sure. :)

And finally, I'm super excited about the new technology available for teaching people about their nutritional needs. These BodyBugg/Sensewear/Gowear Fit armbands are really an incredible way to educate people about weight loss and control. I'd absolutely love to see these introduced to those high school Health and Nutrition classes, so kids could get real hands-on data about how their metabolism works, and why it makes such a difference for them to move around more and eat an amount of calories to match their activity level. I think it's one of the things that will really help that "lightbulb" go off for a lot of people in this country, and finally give people the information and feedback they need to take control of their nutrition and return to a healthier weight.

Dang that was long, sorry!! I've just been thinking about this stuff a lot lately. :)

Then, there are the misnomers every knows/use as excuses:
"I have a high metabolism. I'll never get fat."
"I have a slow metabolism."
"I'm big boned and I will always be like this."

Well, that's the first time I ever heard of those. It would definitely make figuring calories in/out much easier. But not everyone has $300+ to spend on that.

I agree that we should all be able to manage our calories and expenditures. That can be done without having to buy the gear. You can Google for TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) to find the equations for that. Once you've established what you need just to maintain your weight, any exercise you do, and any dieting you do register as deficits.

But how to motivate people to include daily activity and to make the healthier choices, there's the real core of the issue. Positive peer pressure, appropriate advertising, education programs, shifting cultural practices...and understanding that we probably won't effect the change entirely in our generation. Because humans tend to go for what's easier.

Georgia

Georgia,

That was my problem, though! Every energy expenditure calculator I've used on the web has told me my base metabolic rate is about 2,500 calories/day. So on and off for years I tried eating 1,500 calories, plus whatever exercise calories I earned, thinking that I was doing what I needed to do to lose about 2 pounds a week. Inevitably, though, a month would go by with barely half a pound a week losses, and I'd get frustrated and give up.

Now I wear this armband, and lo and behold, I find that my actual base metabolic rate is just under 2,000. And of course the exercise calories I was eating before, using online calculators, were also drastically over-estimated. No wonder I was hardly losing any weight, even when I did everything "right".

They are pricey, though (mine was $170), but I'm assuming the price will continue to drop as the technology ages. Maybe the government could even throw some subsidies into making these armbands more accessible! :D That'd be a heck of a lot better than paying farmers to plant more corn. :)

Of course, I wasn't suggesting that we have home ec. courses that teach stupid behavior. I took these courses in high school and learned good cooking skills, good nutrition and how to sew. We don't have to teach the wrong things.

The most reliable predictor of obesity is the income level of the population. The poorest states have the highest levels of obesity. The answer is NOT to blame people but to improve standards of living and increase access to good food.