Are We Doing Anything Now?

            It’s obvious that obesity is a major issue in our society today but, let's examine what actions we are taking now. Obesity was not a major problem in the past as it is today but there are people who are acknowledging this epidemic and are taking positive actions to try and minimize it.

            We Californians pushed for a major change in restaurants all over the state to provide nutritional information about the food items they provide. Our efforts forced, “restaurants with 20 or more locations in California [to] provide brochures at the point of purchase with number of calories, grams of saturated fat, grams of carbohydrates and milligrams of sodium for all standard menu items (Behrens 2009).” Because this was just recently made mandatory of restaurants, there is no evidence to whether this has actually helped with people making healthier choices or affecting obesity but, personally there have been several occasions where I have chosen a healthier item on a menu solely because this nutritional information was provided. I know there are many people out there who have also made a healthier decision based on this information due to my own personal experiences. Even if the number of people who do not consider this information during their decision making process of what item to order, it is a relief to see that we are making an effort to fight this growing problem.      

            The fast food industry has made attempts to provide healthier options on their menus as well. Taco bell introduced their own “fresco menu,” also known as the “Drive-Thru diet,” where there are seven items to choose from that are fewer in calories, fat and sodium as oppose to other menu items. Wendy’s restaurant chain added orange slices as a side dish option for their meals as wells as a salad line which has fat free options for dressings to help give customers a healthier option. At Wendy’s, “A side salad without dressing has only 60 calories. A Caesar side salad with no dressing has only 110 calories. The Deluxe Garden Salad also has only 110 calories (Barlow 2010).” Making these options available give the customer the discretion of whether to eat healthier or not. It’s encouraging to see these companies starting to implement healthier options on their menus; We American’s can use all the help we can get.

            Some communities have volunteer groups that push for change in their neighborhoods regarding obesity. Healthy Kids Healthy Communities is a volunteer group in Baldwin Park California who has made outstanding efforts battling obesity. This group pushed for a ban on fast food windows and since this ban was implemented, not a single fast food restaurant has opened in the city (CBS). This group pushed and succeeded in having many stores carry fresh produce that never carried it, and they also flag healthy foods for shoppers. This group made salad bars in schools a staple and 100 minutes per week of physical education mandatory (CBS). With all this in a five year period at one school in particular, 135 kids are no longer overweight. This group has made many good changes for their community and shows great success.            

            With obesity as problematic as it is today, people are starting to acknowledge the problem and are making changes. We do not have all the support we need to tackle this growing epidemic but it is motivating to see organizations like this putting in valuable effort. If we continue to push for healthier items in fast food restaurants, push for our kids to receive the right amount of physical education in their schools, push for stores to carry fresh produce and make schools provide healthier options for our children, we will definitely see the change with obesity in our future.

REFERENCES

Barlow, Jackie. 1/30/2010. “Wendy’s Nutrition Facts.” Bright Hub.

http://www.brighthub.com/health/diet-nutrition/articles/62900.aspx.

12/3/2010

Behrens, Zach. 6/26/09. “17,000 Restaurants Must Provide Nutritional Info on July 1^st.” Hollywood Laist. <http://laist.com/2009/06/26/17000_restaurants_must_provide_nutr.php>.

12/3/2010.

CBS News. 1/7/2010. “Where America Stands On Obesity.” Video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM-rZm-ilFA&feature=player_embedded#!.

It’s Not Solely What We Eat, But Also How Much We Eat

            Obesity is most commonly blamed on eating unhealthy items and the lack of exercise. Although these play a vital role in the cause of obesity, there needs to be another area examined which may play a larger role, food portions. “When McDonald’s first started in 1955, its only hamburger weighed around 1.6 ounces; now, the largest hamburger patty weighs 8 ounces, an increase of 500 percent (Monte 2008).”

            

                        This increase has not only been witnessed in fast food chains, but in restaurants, grocery stores and at home. Another study done by Young and Wansink, analyzed recipes in the popular cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, which has been in print since the 1930s and, “Found that portions for the same recipes have become larger in newer editions. A recipe for brownies that once made 30 servings now serves only 16 (Crane 2009).” In an eighty year period we double our serving size.

            There are many buffets now days as well as “bottomless” options such as Red Robin’s “Bottomless Fries” which encourage customers to eat more than they have on their plate. According to a study done by Brian Wansink, the director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University in New York, subjects at a restaurant were “Given ‘bottomless’ soup bowls and ended up eating 73 percent more than those given regular bowls of soup (Crane 2009).”

            When people have more food in front of their eyes they are likely going to eat it. I know personally when I go to eat at a buffet or eat some place where they have “bottomless” items, I leave the place feeling like I ate way too much and all that food turns to fat if I don’t burn it off.

            We Americans like the most bang for our buck which is not a bad thing but, consider upgrading from a 32 ounce big gulp cup to a 64 ounce double gulp cup for only .20 cents, it’s such a  great deal we can’t say no but that adds an extra 388 calories to our intake! Although it may seem economically smart, it’s detrimental to our health. “A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that Americans consume around 10 percent more calories than they did in the 1970s. Given no change in physical activity, this equates to around 200 extra calories per day, or 20 pounds a year (Monte 2).” Choices like the big gulp upgrade adds that extra 388 calories and if we continue to make choices like that every day we're going to gain at least 20 pounds a year! Diet and exercise play a very big role in the cause of obesity but portion sizes are not examined or blamed like they should be. We Americans need to learn portion control or our war against obesity is only going to get harder.

            “The NHLBI tells us that a serving of meat should be the size of a deck of cards while one pancake should be the size of a CD (Monte 2).”

 

            Get the picture? Our servings are completely disproportionate to the servings we should be having. The more we eat the more energy the body has. Unless you work it all off which is unlikely with the portions most of us eat, it will be stored into fat. When we eat this much it is too difficult to try and make sure we burn it off. Food portion is one of the biggest contributors to the obesity problem we have now and we Americans need to acknowledge this and start to change our eating habits.

 REFERENCES

Crane, Cody. “Plumped up portions: over the years, the serving sizes of food

have expanded and so have people's waistlines.” 11/9/2009. Reference Publications.

<http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_5-6_66/ai_n42079032/>. 11/30/2010.

Monte, Liz. “Portion size, Then vs. Now.” 05/2008. Divine Caroline. <http://www.divinecaroline.com/79975/49492-portion-size-vs-now>. 11/30/2010.

Healthier Food Choices Are Sometimes Not An Option

The downturn of the economy and the price increase of healthier foods in recent years make the fight against obesity for individuals  harder. According to a study by researchers at the University of Washington, “unhealthy, high-calorie foods cost an average of $1.76 per 1,000 calories, while low-calorie, nutritious foods cost $18.16 per 1,000 calories (Vinter 2008, p. 35).” According to this statistic, healthier food choices are roughly ten times more expensive than those  considered unhealthy for the same amount of calories. For families that are struggling and  barely able to put food on the table, the healthier low-calorie food item is simply not logical.

With the economy struggling, the amount of people who use federal food and nutrition programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) will only grow. Many agencies are not able to provide enough assistance that families need. In order to do so, some agencies need to contact legislature to allow such aid which is not a guaranteed outcome. “Unlike the food stamps program, WIC is not an entitlement and Congress would have to approve an increase in appropriations to avoid denying aid to low-income mothers and children (Vinter 2008, p.35).” Kathleen DiChiara, president and CEO of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey stated, “Now food stamps go fewer and fewer days of the month,” and continued, “For some, that means adding an extra cup of water to their soup, watering down their milk, or giving their children soda because it’s cheaper than milk (Associated Press 2008).” In that quote we see an example of a direct correlation to unhealthy choices due to limited resources and the inflation of food prices. Soda has become cheaper than milk and without hesitation some families resort to the cheaper item regardless of its nutrition value.

Children do not have the option of choosing healthier food items in our school systems due to our School Lunch Programs. According to Kenneth Hecht, executive director of California Food Policy Advocates, “The cost of staple foods including, milk, grains, produce and meat have risen over 23 percent. The Miami-Dade County Public School System saw the price of milk rise an additional $4.5million in the 2007-2008 school year alone (Vinter 2008, p.35).” “Rising food prices have come at a time when schools are also being asked to prepare healthier, lower-fat meals to help stem the tide of childhood obesity. In many cases, schools are being forced to cut back on more expensive foods such as whole-grain breads and fresh fruits and vegetables (Vinter 2008, p.35).” Some of these children are receiving a double-whammy. They are not receiving the proper nutritional foods at home and are being deprived of healthier items in their schools. We need to find a way to be able to make healthier items more affordable or make sure we provide enough assistance to families that need it. If these children are not receiving the proper healthy nutrition they need at home, we cannot allow  them to receive the same unhealthy meals in our schools. If we do, we will only make the uphill battle against obesity harder.

Associated Press. 4/15/2008. U.S. seeing worst food inflation in 17 years. MSNBC. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24127314/>. 11/3/2010.

Vinter, Serena. 2008. The High Price of Food. F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing In America. <http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2008/Obesity2008Report.pdf>. 11/3/2010

"Sin Tax" to Improve Health

Studies show that obesity is a major problem here in America. The numbers keep increasing and according to CBS news, three out of four children are  overweight or obese. CBS news stated that the current trend of obesity in children today could lead to the first generation since the civil war to have a shorter life expectancy. The problem is  here, but how can we help?

Many people believe obesity is solely the responsibility of the individual overweight. I can agree with this opinion to an extent but I don’t think it is the time to be pointing fingers. I think we as a nation should start finding ways to help decrease this growing problem. One idea that is being considered is the taxation on junk foods. I feel that this is one of the ways that we Americans can help tackle obesity and it should definitely be implemented.

“Sin taxes on cigarettes have turned out to be the most effective weapon in the campaign to reduce smoking (Karen Kaplan).” So why not try the same approach for junk food? If we were to put a tax on  unhealthy items people eat every day, it could potentially deter them from selecting those items and resorting to healthier ones instead. There is no evidence that can prove  this will in fact have the same effect it had on cigarettes but it is worth a shot. Not only will this potentially help people choose healthier options but the taxation could  help the current medical burden related to obesity which is nearly $150 million per year (CBSNews).

According to Everyday-Wisdom.com, soft drink companies grossed over $57 billion in sales last year. If we were to initiate a 10% tax on  soft drinks, that would raise over $5 billion dollars which we could  use to help with medical issues related to obesity. If this tax were to be implemented,  the money raised  should be used for medical problems related to obesity and not for other government spending.
Obesity is here and it is not going to disappear overnight. We need to start thinking outside the box to help resolve this crisis and  a “sin tax” is one way to try and dissolve the problem. This tax could only be beneficial and we need to implement it now.

10/04/2010

REFERENCES

CBSNews. “Where America stands on obesity.” <http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6069484n&tag=related;photovideo> 10/4/2010.

Karen Kaplan. “Calls to tax junk food gain ground.” 08/23/2009.

<http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/23/science/sci-junk-food-tax23> 10/4/2010.

Kristina Fiore. “Junk Food Tax Could Improve Health.” abcNews/health. <http://abcnews.go.com/Health/w_DietAndFitness/junk-food-tax-improve-health/story?id=10056236&page=1> 10/4/2010.

“Soft Drink Consumption: The Frightening Statistics and Associated Health Risks!” www.Everyday-Wisdom.com.

<http://www.everyday-wisdom.com/soft-drink-consumption.html> 10/4/2010

The growing problem of obesity

September 16, 2010

Obesity is the fastest growing cause of disease and death in America according to the Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona. Surgeon General Carmona  states “One out of every eight deaths in America is caused by an illness directly related to overweight and obesity.” This problem is  very serious  that we Americans are not shedding enough light on. With these growing statistics we should address this problem and find a solution before obesity gets  worse.

According to Bariatric surgery.info, approximately 300,000 adult deaths in America are related to unhealthy dietary habits and physical inactivity. Bariatric sugery.info states that nearly two out of every three adults are overweight and obese. This problem is completely preventable and needs to be dealt with. The numbers are  going to continue to rise if we don’t start to do anything about this epidemic.

Obesity is not only a health problem, but also an expensive problem. According to Surgeon General Camano “In the year 2000, the total annual cost of obesity in the United States was $117 billion.” That is a lot of money  our nation pays which  does not help our struggling economy. Surgeon General Camano  states that excess weight has  led to people suffering from type 2 diabetes which costs America $132 billion per year.

This epidemic is not only a major health issue but a financial one as well. American’s need to realize that this is a major problem and it is time to do something preventative to stop it. Eating healthier and exercising regularly will help lower these numbers. . I know we hear people say that all the time but we need to realize how serious it is. We need to prevent this before it becomes too late. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” –Benjamin Franklin.

REFERENCES

Carmona, Richard H. “The obesity crisis in America.” 7/16/2003. Office of the Surgeon General. Retrieved 9/15/2010. <http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/news/testimony/obesity07162003.htm>

“Obesity levels in America.” Bariatric Surgery.info. 2008. Retrieved 9/15/2010.

<http://www.bariatric-surgery.info/obesity-levels-usa.htm>