Tom Murphy
RedwoodAge.com
Three recent studies have renewed calls for global efforts to attack one of the most nagging and easily preventable public health menaces of our time - the epidemic of obesity that has ratcheted up cases of heart failure, stroke and diabetes in both wealthy and emerging economies.
The problem is particularly acute for the 78 milllion baby boomers in the United States, who grew up on a diet of drive-in burgers, processed food and super-sized portions. Four out of five American boomers are overweight, according to a recent survey by Harris Interactive. But the problem doesn't begin in California or end in New York; it is global and growing.
In England, experts are worried that many Brits are malnourished, including those overweight. The diet there is heavy in fat, salt and calories. Fruits and vegetables are less common.
"There's a widely held misconception that if you're fat, you can't be malnourished," said Dr. Alastair McKinlay, a gastroenterologist who chairs Britain's malnutrition action group.
A third of residents in Cuba are now overweight, according to public health experts there. That's surprising considering the Cuba government provides life-long healthcare that includes encouragement to exercise. But the culprit seems to be a familiar one: a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Cubans have slowly been drifting towards a startchier diet, particularly as the price of fruits and vegetable rises. Cuban street food plays the same role as American drive-ins in lowering the nutritional value of the Cuban diet.
Even China, where diets have long been based on vegetables and rice, has been adopting Western-style fast food habits as chains like Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonalds set up shop in major cities.
Public Campaigns
The problems are so extreme that some states and cities are taking actions on
their own to campaign against poor diets, no longer willing to wait for federal
action.
In New York City, restaurants have been ordered to start posting calorie counts along with the prices on menus, although that effort is drawing stiff opposition from restaurant owners.
California recently started running a series of TV and radio commercials in which small children - instead of begging for burgers or fries - urge their parents to give them diabetes and obesity. The emotional ads play off a dark comic edge to make the point that parents are passing along bad health to their children by feeding them a steady diet of junk food.
A committee created by the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just urged doctors to stop using fuzzy terms like chubby or stocky to describe children who are obese or overweight. Instead, they recommend doctors be blunt in identifying these problems.
To be sure, this is not a campaign that government can hope to win by itself. The actions of each individual, restaurant chains and food manufacturers contribute to the broader social issue. But government has a major stake in encouraging people to eat right. Public health costs will soar unless the problem is brought under control before the baby boom hits the retirement years.
On the corporate side, McDonalds ended its long-standing "super-size" promotions after the documentary films "Super-size Me" showed the dangerous effects of eating a McDonald's diet for a single month. The restaurant, like several other chains, has been switching to healthier oils and mixing healthier choices into its menu.
Kellogg's recently agreed to increase the quality of foods aimed a children. That move came after parents groups complained about the ingredients of cereals like Apple Jacks and Fruit Loops.
