Obesity Epidemic

[bcholmes]

Clearly, since childhood obesity has become an epidemic, it's only reasonable to:

• take a hard, serious look at factory farming practices, likely resulting in bans of certain practices
• demand extensive (and expensive) studies from the manufacturers of food animal growth hormones
• nationalize the food industry, or at least institute far greater government controls
• immediately cease approvals on any form of genetically-modified food until we're certain they aren't part of the problem
• institute huge fines for any industry that promotes any unsustainable diet, given the clear link between "failed" diets and weight gain (and by "unsustainable diet", I think I mean all of them, but let the burden of proof of sustainability be on the promoters)

All of these things seem like logical responses to the "epidemic". I'm surprised there are no newspaper articles calling for any of them.

Comments

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

A good list. I'm afraid, however, that you left out my favorite.

* Run extensive and significant health tests on thin children, particularly ones who eat similar diets to fat siblings or schoolmates. Determine the long-term risks of their diets to their health. Don't let health concerns of thin children be made invisible.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i loves you both. loves!

[angilong.livejournal.com]

I just read an article which said that there's evidence that the upswing in obesity, and possibly in some other health problems as well, is related to the plastics, and toxins in those plastics, that are making it into our diets.

Chances of anything being done to address this? Nada, as far as I can see.

[lakme.livejournal.com]

I'd like to add "heavily discourage the use of infant formula" to that list, BC. Nothing gives a great start to obesity in life like that crap.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

Yes, especially the last! The thing is, the US gvmt has constantly shown itself blind to the idea that any "remedy" could actually be making the problems worse. No, must be that we're not doing enough of the remedy: the war on drugs, the war on terrorism, the war on obesty....

I'm not a small guy

[dragon3.livejournal.com]

I was strolling on Boston Common this morning, and at one point thought of seeking a small, reasonably healthy snack, not a "pretzel the size of a small dog" to quote one ad.

I spent the early part of the week at MIT where the conference was catered with fairly healthy bag lunches, but I never finished one.

Everywhere I ate in Cambridge I turned back a substantial portion of food unless I had missed the previous meal.

Occam would suggest portion size as the issue...