Thursday
Mar262009
Do you weigh what you did in high school?
Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 4:30PM
By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
“Pollution begins at your lips; you are what you eat, and from the Kagen point of view, you ought to weigh today what you did as a senior in high school,” stated Congressman Steve Kagen (D-Wa.) at the House Agricultural Committee hearing on obesity in America. Kagen said that America is overweight and that there is no question about it. He pointed out that, “if it tastes good, it’s probably not good for you.”
Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) said that obesity is affecting economics, health, and the well-being of our people. “Obesity is contributing to rising healthcare costs, the loss of productivity in the workplace and various life threatening conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases as well as stroke,” stated Fortenberry. The congressman said that he believes access to good nutrition and nutritional education is the key.
Congressman Joe Baca (D-Calif.) said that, “statistics indicate that more than 1/3 of our population is considered obese.” He explained that he is troubled by the economic consequences our nation faces due to obesity. “We can continue to work together to fight obesity and create a healthier nation,” said Baca.
William Dietz, director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a recent paper suggests that “the deaths for obesity in adolescents are approximately equivalent to those deaths attributable to smoking.” According to Dietz obesity related disease is accounted for 25 percent of the increase in medical costs between 1997 and 2001. He said that we have a choice: we can pay for the care of these diseases or we can choose to prevent these diseases.
Dietz stated that, “60 percent of adults are overweight or obese, 30 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. that far exceeds the capacity of the medical system.” He went on to say that people must make good choices, but also pointed out that they must have good choices to make. He said that children in suburbs can’t walk to school because of a lack of sidewalks, and inner-city populations are surrounded by fast good restaurants.
New York City has implemented regulations in childcare programs such as requiring children 12 months or older to participate in 30-60 minutes of physical activity, restricts television viewing to 60 minutes, and prohibits the availability of sugar-sweetened beverages. Dietz said that there are already states that are taxing snacks and sugar sweetened beverages.
Dietz said there seems to be a connection between television and obesity, “the more television a child watches the more likely they are to consume foods while watching television, and the more likely it is those are foods are foods advertised on television.”
Kagen posed the question, “is it a form of child abuse to continue to feed children things that are not good for them?” Dietz said that it is an odd form of abuse because it comes from giving too much rather than giving too little.
“Pollution begins at your lips; you are what you eat, and from the Kagen point of view, you ought to weigh today what you did as a senior in high school,” stated Congressman Steve Kagen (D-Wa.) at the House Agricultural Committee hearing on obesity in America. Kagen said that America is overweight and that there is no question about it. He pointed out that, “if it tastes good, it’s probably not good for you.”
Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) said that obesity is affecting economics, health, and the well-being of our people. “Obesity is contributing to rising healthcare costs, the loss of productivity in the workplace and various life threatening conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases as well as stroke,” stated Fortenberry. The congressman said that he believes access to good nutrition and nutritional education is the key.
Congressman Joe Baca (D-Calif.) said that, “statistics indicate that more than 1/3 of our population is considered obese.” He explained that he is troubled by the economic consequences our nation faces due to obesity. “We can continue to work together to fight obesity and create a healthier nation,” said Baca.
William Dietz, director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a recent paper suggests that “the deaths for obesity in adolescents are approximately equivalent to those deaths attributable to smoking.” According to Dietz obesity related disease is accounted for 25 percent of the increase in medical costs between 1997 and 2001. He said that we have a choice: we can pay for the care of these diseases or we can choose to prevent these diseases.
Dietz stated that, “60 percent of adults are overweight or obese, 30 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. that far exceeds the capacity of the medical system.” He went on to say that people must make good choices, but also pointed out that they must have good choices to make. He said that children in suburbs can’t walk to school because of a lack of sidewalks, and inner-city populations are surrounded by fast good restaurants.
New York City has implemented regulations in childcare programs such as requiring children 12 months or older to participate in 30-60 minutes of physical activity, restricts television viewing to 60 minutes, and prohibits the availability of sugar-sweetened beverages. Dietz said that there are already states that are taxing snacks and sugar sweetened beverages.
Dietz said there seems to be a connection between television and obesity, “the more television a child watches the more likely they are to consume foods while watching television, and the more likely it is those are foods are foods advertised on television.”
Kagen posed the question, “is it a form of child abuse to continue to feed children things that are not good for them?” Dietz said that it is an odd form of abuse because it comes from giving too much rather than giving too little.
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