Posted on 07/04/2009 9:00:44 AM PDT by Still Thinking
The health zealots at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), a close ally of the food cops at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, have come out with the 2009 version of their obesity report card, grading America “F as in Fat.” But once again, the weight police ignored the opportunity to examine the whys behind increasing obesity rates before assigning the country a failing grade.
From the report:
Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity at 32.5 percent, making it the fifth year in a row that the state topped the list. Four states now have rates above 30 percent, including Mississippi, Alabama (31.2 percent), West Virginia (31.1 percent), and Tennessee (30.2 percent). Eight of the 10 states with the highest percentage of obese adults are in the South. Colorado continued to have the lowest percentage of obese adults at 18.9 percent.
The researchers drew the conclusion that the economic crisis may cause families to give up on paying more for healthy food, making fast food the only low-cost option for families. Of course, they conveniently forgot that many healthy foods – like rice, beans, potatoes, and fresh produce – are easily affordable for anyone who can splurge on a fast-food meal.
More significantly, 9 of the 10 most obese states also rank as the most sedentary, according to government surveys. The residents of RWJF’s most obese state, Mississippi, also report the lowest rates of leisure-time physical activity in the country.
Yet none of those 10 most-overweight states has the highest concentration of fast-food restaurants in the country. Mississippi is the state with the third-lowest in fast food density (70.6 establishments per 100,000 people), whereas Colorado, the fittest state, ranks in the top ten (86 per 100,000). Coloradoans are also known for their exercise habits, including skiing, biking, running, and boating.
A coincidence? Hardly. We’ve said it before but it bears repeating: Weight control is an equation of both “calories in” and “calories-out.” Ignoring the role that physical activity plays means public health activists will forever find themselves running in circles, wondering why the country isn’t slimming down.
Could it be the feds and their free breakfast and lunch for the poor that is causing some of the over-weight kids of today?
Greasy burgers just taste better.
Have these people ever tried going for a walk in Mississippi in August? There’s a reason people in the South are more sedentary overall: the summer (late March through Thanksgiving) is stultifying, and likely to induce heatstroke at the mere suggestion of physical exertion. Denver, on the other hand, has tolerable weather year-round. As a good friend of mine once said: You can always put on more clothes when it’s cold, but there are only so many clothes you can take off when it’s hot.
I’m not obese...just too short.....
I doubt it the kids don’t eat that crap.
An additional point: the majority of people don’t exercise after leaving high school. Physical education is mandatory in school. After leaving school, people either attend college (PE is not required), work or marry and settle down into a sedentary way of life. Granted, people raising their own gardens having fresh vegetables mitigate that sedentary life but for the most part, people don’t exercise.
My BMI places me in the “Obese” category.
However, I can lay on the bottom of the swimming pool. I haven’t decided if that is due to heavy bones, lead in my *** or rocks in my head...
If I am that “fat” (obese), why don’t I float?
Could it be that the nanny state/food Nazi folks have moved the goal posts in order to create a crisis requiring intervention “for our own good”?
:-)
I’m not fat.... I’m fluffy!
That’s just wrong.
The Gov has turned everything into an “obsession”....a taxablem obsession...drinking, smoking, eating, “breathing” (we exhale what??)
There are also medical guidelines written to create new markets for medical maintenance drugs. For example, the “low bone density” and “abnormal bone density” guidelines that suddenly classified several million women as having arthritis. High blood pressure standards dropping, leading to more recommended patients to take statins.
Lowering the obesity standard could have been done with the same goal - pushing heavier people into lifestyle maintenance programs and/or drugs.
Excellent point. I hadn’t thought of that. Gee we could lose some weight and lose some dependency in one fell swoop!
It’s also a way to manufacture a crisis, because when the definition of a thing, whether obesity or DUI, is redefined more stringently, the advocacy groups who are touting 68% increases in their problem over the last three years ‘forget’ to note that the definition was changed during that interval.
??? Huh? 1 lb bag of lentils = $1.75. Enough to feed a family of 4. An Apple is cheaper snack than a candy bar -- etc.
Eating healthy doesn't mean you have to buy food at expensive designer health food boutiques.
We did have popcorn...Imagine popping on a stove...in a pan...Man...at least 20 minutes...crazy!!
But what I remember most was: An ice cream cone was a nickel and so was the show at our little local theatre!!
BUT....I had to walk 1/4 mile for the ice cream cone...and a mile to the theatre.
I don't know -- Every time I see a super morbidly obese person at the supermarket, I notice what is in the cart -- without fail its always: candy, cakes, potato chips -- I never see any vegetables or fruit.
There is definately more awareness on healthy eating these days, but there is also a higher population than in the 50s and there is more fast food facililties. I would say the movement to eating healthy hasn't made much in roads since the 50s and beyond.
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