The Obesity Epidemic

randyv99

So from time to time, I hear news reports claiming that obesity is running rampant and is the greatest problem (the U.S. is facing in healthcare) today. Many claim that obesity is a disease and many others claim that i's behavioral and controllabl. I like to play devil's advocate so I'll argue on either side of that issue but my question today is, how much responsibility do you think farmers, food manufacturers, distributors, and restaurants have for the obesity epidemic and what can be done about it?

I ask this because many of my friends and family overseas who more or less eat the same crap that I do, don't have the same weight gain or energy depletion. In the United States, the majority of the food distributed in urban areas is imported from rural areas. The majority of people living in urban areas don't have the money to pay for organic foods and the majority of poor people in urban areas are becoming obese at an alarming rate.

So, when food makers are concerned about profits, production, efficiency and bottom lines, pesticides, genetic modification, steroids, hormones and preservatives are infused into the foods to keep products at a lower cost. What can consumers do to discourage these practices? What can food makers do to change this and what could/should the government do to protect the consumers' health and maintain companyies' profits?

Just wanna know your thoughts. It gets pretty lonely and boring here at work at nights.

fitnesspirateninja

The biggest thing consumers can do is buy healthy foods. Money is the bottom line, so if we spend our money on healthy, sustainable, etc. food, the market will suport that. Of course, that's easier said than done. I still struggle with spending three or four times as much for healthy stuff. I buy my vegetables from a local farmer (I live in an agricultural town, so it's very easy to find organic, local produce). Other stuff...is harder. I hate going to Whole Foods or New Leaf (our local health food store) because I feel so out of place there. It's obvious that they're catering to wealthy people who can afford to spend more on organic, gluten free, magic earth food. So I think one thing that stores can do is make their shops a little more welcoming to the rest of us. I feel like the information I get about eating healthy/organic/sustainable foods is mostly telling me what I'm doing wrong. We need affordable, accessible solutions, not lectures. I've already seen a lot of change happen - nutritional information is available on everything you buy at the grocery store, and a lot of restuarants have that information (even though it's often inaccurate) posted on the web or on the wall. The government could encourage farmers to grow sustainable, organic food through tax breaks (instead of paying farmers to NOT grow food, they could pay them to grow healthy food).

Consumers can also write letters to businesses and government officials. But really, I think our greatest strength is our spending power. It's hard when money is tight to spend the extra cash on healthier foods - however, I think about the cost of my future health care (if I don't take care of my body, that is) and it kind of eases my mind about it.

numberscolors

i think your point about poverty and poor people in urban areas hit the nail right on the head. we keep our poor people poor by denying access to basic education and preventative health care. i think fast food corporations have a huge part in this as well. they market to minorities and single mothers in poorer urban areas (watch a couple of mcdonald's commercials. their target audience is pretty obvious).
there are "dollar menus" at pretty much every fast food place and ordering off of them daily is the only option for many families with children to feed. not to mention the fast food chains on every street corner and the cheapest foods at the super market being the most processed and caloric.

i just found an ineresting article examining the connection between obesity and poverty (both "national epidemics" if you ask me):
http://www.docshop.com/2007/11/20/obesity-and-poverty-examining-the-link

i'm lucky enough that i live in a state (WA) that issues farmer's market WIC (women, infants, and children) checks that can be used on ANY fresh produce or food products sold at local farmer's markets.

sorry for rambling/being inarticulate. it's late. haha

islandnutshel

Wow, deep subject. So many opinions. So many factors: Time, money, upbringing, genetics, propaganda, media, availability, education, motivation, priorities....... government subsidies of HFCS, the FDA, and the control of the food industry by the few and powerful..... Supersize me, Food.inc..........
don't get me started. I try and do my best for my health and for the enviroment, but I feel for large familys on limited income that have to decide between cheap and filling, and healthier fare that is more expensive and harder to convince family membersto eat.
I know this is a scattered post, but I guess it is hard to put my thoughts in a nutshel.

randyv99

The government could encourage farmers to grow sustainable, organic food through tax breaks (instead of paying farmers to NOT grow food, they could pay them to grow healthy food).

Yeah I read about this! What the heck is that crap about? I understand the need to preserve farmland against development but can we subsidize the folks who are actually farming before we pay other folks not to sell their land to developers.

randyv99

@numberscolors Rambling helps the thoughts come out and the words will eventually catch up. This topic is so multi-faceted and so controversial that we can all go on rambling about it forever. I think it's important for us as individuals and communities to use our spending power and our voices to encourage healthy lifestyles from crop to checkout to kitchen. It's also not an easy thing for individuals, communities and nations to do. On MFP alone, there are so many of us who only just began taking our health seriously not because we haven't been lectured but because it's difficult to make these changes.

@nutshel LOL at using your screen name in your comment. I love word play. You're right there are so many different angles to this issue and there's no one answer or even 1 right answer. I'm delighted to see more fast food places offering salads and healthy options (esp. for the kids) and restaurants listing their calorie information but even that doesn't touch on the issue of additives and preservatives in the foods.

alantin

Over here there has been talk of more and more children getting over weight although the problem isn't anything near what it is in US. Because obesity is a major expense for the government, they are introducing a tax for sweets. I wonder if it'll do anything about the problem. In the least they'll collect about 100 million euros more tax money every year..

randyv99

Heavy taxes on cigarettes haven't really stopped smokers from smoking around here. Making unhealthy things expensive doesn't make healthy things cheaper. Laws never achieve exactly quite the outcome they inted or we hope they will. Hopefully revnue from sweets (if behavioral changes don't results) can go toward subsidizing healthy foods.

fitnesspirateninja

Heavy taxes on cigarettes haven't really stopped smokers from smoking around here. Making unhealthy things expensive doesn't make healthy things cheaper. Laws never achieve exactly quite the outcome they inted or we hope they will. Hopefully revnue from sweets (if behavioral changes don't results) can go toward subsidizing healthy foods.

This is kind if true, but I mostly disagree. We've seen a big change in the amount of smokers in the US:

"In America rates have decreased from the mid 1960's to the mid 1990s by 23%"

http://www.smokingstatistics.org/World_Wide_Smoking_Statistics.asp

I think banning tabacco (or any substance, really) is a pipe dream. It's foolish to think that outlawing something will make people stop using it. However, the government doesn't have to encourage or ignore companies that actively hurt people. For example, I have some old magazines from just after WWII that belonged to my grandpa. There are tons of advertisements in it that say things like, "9 out of 10 doctor agree that Camel cigarettes are healthier for you then other cigarettes!" If the government prevents tabacco companies from printing outright lies about products that harm people, I think the same should be true for food producers. Habits can change. People can change.