A Simple Cure

As a child, it was my humanitarian duty to overeat. If there was food left on my plate after dinner, I was reminded of the starving children in Bangladesh, as if by over-indulging I was helping some under-privileged child in Asia. Some sort of vicarious nutrition, I suppose. Failure to eat might have horrific consequences, with my emaciated toddler corpus accompanying the bathwater down the drain on its journey to the ocean.

Eating is engrained in our notion of self and country. What is America if not the flag, Mom, and apple pie? For many of us, the apple pie – the notion of abundant food – and Mom were redundant concepts. “You need to eat something,” my mother would plead. The flag just means that it was our patriotic duty to eat Mom’s apple pie. And they wonder why we are becoming obese.

Obesity is now epidemic in this country, and its increasing prevalence is associated with several forms of cancer in both men and women. It is also a significant risk factor for cardiovasular disease, stroke, and diabetes, and will soon surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death. The problem has become so intractable that airlines and autombile manufacturers must now grapple with roomier seating to accomodate our more expansive physiques.

An editorial in the Washington Post (6 September 2004), responding to the latest preliminary guidelines issued by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, says:

Nevertheless, the committee’s preliminary 2005 conclusions are, once again, moderate, ungimmicky and unsurprising. Americans, the guidelines state, eat too few fruits and vegetables, get too little exercise and eat too much sugar. They should consume a wide variety of foods, choose fats and carbohydrates wisely, use little salt, limit calories — no “eat as much as you want” suggestions here — and drink alcohol in moderation. All of that, of course, is advice that could have been proffered in Aristotle’s time.

For all of the billions of dollars spent on diet aids, books, low-carb and low-fat foods (can low-protein foods be far behind?), and fitness center memberships we continue our upward tragectory. Are we, collectively, so weak, stupid, and slovenly that we cannot reverse this trend without the aid of medical intervention - a magic pill? Do we really need millions, if not billions, of govenment-funded research into the causes and cures for obesity?

While obesity is, sadly, a bona fide metabolic disorder in a small minority of people, for most of those now classifed as overweight or obese it is simply a matter of poor decision-making. What we really need is for people to THINK.

The best “cure” for what ails this country’s health is a strong dose of commonsense prevention. For example:

• Eat a modest, well-balanced diet
• Don’t smoke
• Get some exercise several times each week
• Get a modest amount of sunlight a few days each week (to prevent vitamin D deficiency)
• Take a baby aspirin each morning
• Drink alcohol in moderation
• Don’t sweat the small stuff

Following these guidelines costs virtually nothing. In fact, by reducing our expenditures on prescription and over-the counter medications, food, soft drinks, diet plans, insurance, and long-term care we could save a substantial amount of money - all while leading more healthful lives.

To accomplish this, as in many long-term strategies, we must begin in our public schools. Nutrition education should be more than an academic subject - it should be followed by adhering to strict nutritional guidelines in school cafeterias, and by (for example) ridding our schools of the influence of corporate sponsors and their vending machines.

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