creeping obesity
MSNBC.com’s cover story, a few minutes ago, was "Obesity rates climbing in nearly all states."
Here’s the blurb:
The percentage of Americans with bulging waistlines is growing in just about every state, with residents of Alabama joining the obesity ranks the fastest. Only Oregon failed to fatten, according to a report.
The situation is particularly bad in the Southeast, my good ol’ region.
The interesting part is discussion of whether the government should be involved or not. Free-market groups don’t think so. Like it or not, the government is involved in agricultural policy and in many other areas that influence what we eat, from crop subsidies to oversight of school-lunch programs.
I think it’s clear the government should have some role as long as we taxpayers shoulder such a huge burden to provide medical care for the poor and the elderly. The public-health costs of obesity are staggering and not just in sheer dollars.
A companion article, "Farm subsidies not in sync with food pyramid," is also worth reading. Here’s the blurb:
Two-thirds of Americans are overweight, and the government tells them they should eat better. But it doesn’t put its money where their mouths are.
The point is that subsidies for foods we ought to eat more of (fruits, vegetables) would influence (that is, increase) our consumption of those foods. One of the side effects of grain subsidies is the plethora of worthless junk food available. Read the labels and see how many junk foods are produced without corn and soy products. Not many.
Here’s a quote from the story:
“Here we are as a society, talking constantly about obesity and diets,
and yet our farm policies are not structured to encourage the kind of
diet that the food pyramid suggests we should adopt,” said Ralph
Grossi, president of American Farmland Trust, a group that advocates
conservation on the farm.
August 24th, 2005 at 3:05 pm
Amen. When you finally learn how to eat right, you suddenly become aware of every obese person in the grocery store, at the movies, and everywhere else. I notice what they put in their grocery carts, too. You know the kind of carts I mean, the motarized carts that take up the entire aisle, because they’re too heavy to walk up and down the aisles like normal people. I never minded before, but now I’m obsessing about the high cost of medical insurance and health care because too many people are too (fill in the blank) to take care of their bodies.
August 24th, 2005 at 8:04 pm
I find my eye is drawn to exposed flesh–flesh that we really don’t want to see and that, by traditional standards, ought to be covered. This includes chubby exposed midriffs, rear ends that hang out below short-shorts, and rear ends that poke out above too-brief hip-huggers. I try not to stare. Can’t help wondering why folks don’t want to create a sleeker silhouette by concealing rather than revealing bulges.
On a more serious note, I worry about the overweight girls and boys because unless someone cares enough to do some intervention–to try to change the family’s eating habits, to try to build sports and other physical activity into the children’s lives–they’re most likely doomed to a life of obesity, reduced energy, low self-esteem, and disease.
October 5th, 2005 at 10:13 pm
Hi Mary,
I enjoy your weblog. I too am in search of health at age 38. I don’t know if this will let me add a comment since I am not a member here, but it’s worth a try. I also have a website about nutrition and supplements that I have been working on. There is just so much information that it’s very time consuming.
I just wanted to invite you to read my blog and visit my website which you can access through my profile at blogger.
February 11th, 2006 at 5:13 am
In my view there are lots of incentives for healthy living — interestingly, there’s a concern over privacy, with some workers worried some of this could devolve into lifestyle monitoring. They have a point. Everybody wants a slice of cheesecake every now and then and, unless you’re wildly ill, that certainly doesn’t hurt and you shouldn’t be penalized. On the whole, though, I like seeing this kind of thing. We have a big problem in this country with the way we treat ourselves.