I’m not a skinny gal, so forgive me if I seem unfeeling. I wanna talk fat for a minute. Yeah, fat. Not obesity; that’s so…clinical.
Obesity is closing in on a spot on the top of the list of preventable causes of death in the U.S. I get quite a few nursing and medical e-letters, and there is at least one item pertaining to obesity in each of them every single day. The malls are full of size 6 clothing on display and size 26 and above folks in the food court. Americans are fat. We know it—my god, do we know it. The media discusses it constantly, it’s an epidemic now. Every candidate discussed the obesity crisis in America. There’s a lot of talk about sedentary lifestyles, convenience foods, stress eating, and body image distortion, and then: cut to a commercial of a sugary snack. Oh, look—it’s pizza, and guess what, there’s another layer of cheese hidden between two crusts, and then topped with—that’s right—more cheese!
Why are we fat again? Let me put down this deep-fried twinkie and think about it. Okay, I’ve got it. It’s combination of three things: television, advertising, and automobiles. My god, you say, all the sacred cows of America! How could she? Relax, I didn’t hit all the cows—I left out alcohol, tobacco, and guns. So back to the causes. Do we walk anywhere real? NO. We walk on tracks, paths, and treadmills. We don’t walk to the movies, the store, or the park. How many images of fattening foods and sugary snacks do we see in 24 hours? Counting TV, radio, billboards, magazines, bathroom stall ads, and subliminal ads piped in while we sleep (“Go get a snack. Wendy’s is open all night.”)? About a thousand a day, give or take a couple hundred. Even when you don’t think you’re being solicited, you are. Now, for the worst offender: television. Television combines inactivity with advertising. A deadly combo for the fat and soon to be fat. Even the remote control is a culprit. Every time my sister made me get up and change the channel, I burned about 10 calories. When was the last time you got up to change the channel? Don’t tell me that you sat through a candy sculpting tournament on the Food Channel because you liked it, buddy. You just couldn’t find the remote.
A few brave researchers blame dieting, a multi-billion dollar industry which offers hope, time and again, for just a few dollars more. Unfortunately, studies have shown that very few programs result in long-term weight loss. Our weight loss spending has expanded along with our waistlines—we now spend tens of billions a year on diet aids and programs, yet have a greater than 50% obesity rate. One out of every five children is obese, and we all know how people treat fat kids.
We are super-size crazy. We love everything that is super-sized—except people, especially women. The trend toward giant burgers, buckets of soda, and heaping mounds of fries is the subject of some discussion, but no real blame is assigned, no solution proposed, save that of self-control. Americans and self-control don’t exactly go together. Our gambling, substance abuse, and credit card debt statistics underscore that fact. Putting aside a portion of your enormous meal is a nice idea, but multiple studies reveal that people will eat the portion given them, regardless of how hungry they are—especially when they pay 5 bucks for it and it slides down the throat like an oil slick.
Is it a surprise, then, that in our super size culture, people have super size bodies? Our children are targets from infancy, marketed unhealthy “meals with toy” while still in the crib. Snack foods and soda machines are in their schools. Physical education requirements decrease yearly. Children sell (and eat) candy and cookies for fundraisers. A local restaurant owner recalls the largest soft drink he sold in the seventies—12 ounces. Today, there are 64-ounce soft drinks available at the quick shop on the corner for 69 cents. A bottle of water, 12 ounces, costs $1.39. Which will kids buy? Juice in the college cafeteria costs $1.89; soda, 89 cents. Cheese, although nutritious, is a major source of saturated fat. Pizza companies have figured out a way to add more cheese to the pizza, by hiding it in the crust—and it comes with a fat-laden dipping sauce. Cookies are enrobed in chocolate, yogurt (yogurt!) now comes with candy sprinkles, and burgers have 3 patties, 3 kinds of cheese, and 3 strips of bacon, which will eventually get you a triple-bypass.
We’ve all heard about the obese man suing the fast food giant. It seems ridiculous on the surface, but perhaps a closer look is merited. Humans have a biological predisposition for tasty, satiety producing fat. By saturating our food with it, is the industry loading the dice? Personal responsibility is certainly an issue, but history has shown us that industry is willing to risk our health for their profits, with cigarettes, alcohol, and other substances. Marketing takes place on a conscious and unconscious level, and makes ample use of the human drive to lay down a cushy layer of fat for the coming famine. Eons ago, our ancestors experienced it once a year, during the winter. More than half of us are still waiting for the yearly famine, and adding a little bit more to our cushion every year.
Soon, we will all be feeling the pinch of the belt at our waistline. Even the thin among us will fork out more in taxes to pay for the healthcare of those of us hitting the drive-through. Paying for diabetes alone will be astronomical. The thin will speak smugly of self-control and personal responsibility, while the chubby fight 24-hour marketing aimed directly at their stomachs. Perhaps it is time to look toward prevention, something in which this country has a rather poor track record. Banning soda and junk food in schools is a start. Subsidizing healthy foods at college campuses, to make them the cheaper, faster choice would be a great idea. Bringing some pressure to bear on fast food restaurants to substantially decrease portion size and eliminate marketing to the very young is critical. Perhaps fast food chains should subsidize the installation of play areas in local health club instead of in their restaurants. Insurance companies need to pay for comprehensive coaching and lifestyle programs, rather than lap-band surgery, which works short-term but has a number of complications and, in the end, many patients gain all the weight back.
We’ve seen clearly that many companies have to be forced to do the right thing when profits may suffer—look at tobacco. As much as you’ll hate to hear me say it, our government must get involved. After all, government controls and funds the healthcare systems that will foot the bill for obesity related diseases. The Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease benefit, for example, which covers kidney dialysis, costs the government billions of dollars yearly. Diabetes and hypertension are two major causes of kidney failure requiring dialysis. Type 2 Diabetes and hypertension have both been clearly linked to obesity.
The government is beginning to take action, but in ways that will likely not change the problem—food labeling, nutrition information at restaurants, and a focus on calorie counting. These are tools used primarily by the fit, not the overweight parent and kids on the run between soccer games—they grab what looks good, and what’s fast. I certainly applaud any and all efforts, but promoting walking paths and parks, funding physical education with an emphasis on lifetime activity, and limiting marketing of sweets to children might go further in the battle. Promoting and subsidizing small family farms, Community Supported Agriculture groups, and local food businesses and restaurants are all important pieces of the puzzle.
Many ideas related to obesity prevention affect the bottom line of companies, particularly large corporate farms, and so they oppose them. I hope that this changes. It’s right to help Americans eat healthier. It’s vital to our healthcare system that we do so. We cannot continue to wring our hands about this “epidemic of obesity” and follow it with a commercial for a giant hamburger.
Traversing the Midlife Minefield 