HHS campaign to combat U.S. obesity ("design an "optimal American society" for good health")

UPI ^ | March 12, 2004 | UPI

[FairOpinion]

WASHINGTON, March 11 (UPI) -- A nationwide education campaign launched by the Health and Human Services Department focuses on a theme of small steps Americans can take to combat a rising tide of obesity in the United States.

"We're just too darn fat, ladies and gentlemen -- and we're going to do something about it," said HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson at a news briefing Tuesday.

The campaign's centerpiece is a trio of public-service television commercials created by the Ad Council, but the HHS department-wide program also includes exercise and diet initiatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, as well as a three-tiered research plan by the National Institutes of Health's Obesity Research Task Force.

The HHS announcement coincides with the release of a CDC report that analyzed all causes of U.S. deaths in 2000. The report suggests poor diet and physical inactivity soon may surpass tobacco as the leading cause of mortality.

The report, representing a database search of research journal articles, shows that although 18 percent of U.S. deaths reported in 2000 were tobacco-related, the combination of poor diet and physical inactivity not far behind at 16.6 percent.

The authors of the article -- published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association -- conclude that "a more preventive orientation in the U.S. healthcare and public health systems has become more urgent."

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, said because the findings are 4 years old, she "would not be at all surprised" if tobacco already had been surpassed.

Both the education program and the Ad Council's campaign focus on steps that can be taken by individuals, schools and employers to improve their current health and prevent obesity later.

An estimated 129.6 million Americans, or 64 percent, are overweight or obese, Thompson said. Despite the grim statistics, the ad campaign keeps a "provocative, light-hearted, entertaining" theme, he added.

"Guilt does not help people change the way they live, at least not in the long run," Thompson said, and noted improved public health could have positive effects on the economy by lowering insurance rates and healthcare costs.

Peggy Conlon, president and chief executive officer of the Ad Council, said New York ad agency McCann Erickson created the commercials pro bono in partnership with the council. The television networks ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, Lifetime TV and Clear Channel will air the commercials, she said.

The three ads -- one of which is in Spanish -- are upbeat and show travelers, shoppers and beachcombers finding mysterious objects, which turn out to be "love handles" and a "double chin" that have been "lost" through exercise and diet.

A fourth ad by the Sesame Workshop was presented by Emilio Delgado -- "Luis" from the children's show "Sesame Street." It features Luis and puppet Elmo encouraging parents to introduce children to fruits and vegetables.

Margo Wootan, director of nutritional policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, said public service ads can be a "reasonable approach."

Encouragement through PSA campaigns is not going to be enough, however, she said. Instead, the program should focus more on requiring labeling for calories in fast food restaurants and taking fast food out of schools.

"I think this administration is genuinely concerned about obesity. The rhetoric is great," Wootan told United Press International. "Rhetoric is a good start -- it's time to move to action."

When asked if he would increase regulation of the food industry, Thompson said he was reluctant to start prohibiting things. "I'm not in favor of that," he said.

Roland Sturm, a senior economist for The RAND Corp., a think tank in Santa Monica, Calif., told UPI he agreed PSA campaigns have not been effective in the past. Many of the problems leading to obesity are not being addressed by the current HHS campaign, he said.

Sturm said Americans actually are exercising more than they have ever been before, but there has been a fall in "incidental activity," such as walking to the store and walking to school. Much of that is due to the layout of residential areas, which are becoming more separated from stores and workplaces.

"Trying to make up for that by going to the gym is almost certainly not going to make up for that," Sturm said.

Such environmental issues will likely be included in the the Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research, said agency director, Dr. Elias Zerhouni. NIH has requested $440 million in fiscal year 2005 funding for obesity research, up 10 percent from the current year.

The institutes will continue a joint effort to research factors of obesity on multiple levels because addressing diet and exercise alone will not stop obesity, Zerhouni said.

First, the NIH hopes to prevent and treat obesity by identifying behavioral and environmental factors that contribute to obesity in children and adults. The research will include clinical and population-based studies that examine changes in diet, physical activity, and environmental factors that could prevent overeating and sedentary lifestyles.

NIH researchers are hoping to find ways to design an "optimal American society" for good health, Zerhouni said.

In addition, the NIH plans to examine surgical and medical treatment for obesity. Researchers hope to identify genetic factors that may lead to obesity, and identify biologic targets for drugs that could prevent and treat it.

Last, the NIH seeks to break the link between obesity and associated diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Although obesity long has been known to lead to these diseases, more must be learned about the messages sent by fat cells to cause disease, Zerhouni said. "We want to sever that link," he added.

Gerberding said the CDC would reach out to employers and schools to encourage more exercise in the workplace by making staircases a more attractive option and pushing anti-smoking campaigns for schools.

She said her agency already has made its campus smoke-free and has encouraged employees to exercise, and Thompson said HHS was following suit as part of his "secretary's challenge."

Dr. Richard Carmona, the U.S. surgeon general, said Americans have been complacent for too long in fighting obesity, and added the effort must be an intergenerational one that encourages prevention among children and adults.

"This is a critical juncture in the life of the United States," he said.

[FairOpinion]

"NIH researchers are hoping to find ways to design an "optimal American society" for good health, Zerhouni said."

When asked if he would increase regulation of the food industry, Thompson said he was reluctant to start prohibiting things. "I'm not in favor of that," he said.

BUT HE DIDN'T RULE IT OUT!

I can just see rationing of food, mandatory "exercise breaks" at work, all "for our own good".

And from another article, Awareness alone won't cure obesity :

"Personal responsibility must play a major role in fighting obesity, but it is unreasonable to expect individual willpower alone to prevail in the battle to lose weight.

I bet the Democrat control freaks are already licking their chops. Welcome to the United Communist States of ?America.

The Federal government should NOT be in the business of telling idividuals what their personal actions should be, as long as those actions have no impact on others.

[taxesareforever]

You start messing with my ice cream and burgers and there will be a revolution.

[Humidston]

When do they start picking on nail biters or sleep walkers? And what about spray deodorant vs roll on?

Total insanity!

[FairOpinion]

Don't worry, after they finish "designing the optimum American society for good health" you won't have to make any decisions about anything.

You will get government issues soap, shampoo, deodorant, "scieentifically designed nutritious" meals -- one pack for each meal, they will probably have the date and day of the week on it, to make sure that you have chicken on Mondays and fish on Tuesdays, they will issue you your exercise regimen, with a little camera in your TV set, to make sure you don't skip your exercises, your TV will be centrally controlled, to make sure you don't spend too much time on the couch and don't watch programs, which may cause you to want to eat. And of course, while they are at it, they will figure out whether boxers or briefs are healthier, and they will issue your government approved underware and other clothes as well.

Just the fact that NIH actually used the term ""designing the optimum American society for good health" should scare the daylights out of everyone. And if we don't nip it in the bud, it will be too late.

The government already has too much control over our individual lives -- "all, for our own good, and for the children".

[Humidston]

I demand my individuality!

(Where's my ice cream and Doritos?)

[FairOpinion]

Right now most people take it more as a joke and nobody is really worried -- but what people need to do is look back to the past 30-40 years, the way small incremental policies have becoming more and more intrusive.

It's the old "frog in hot water" syndrome: Put a frog into boiling hot water and it will jump out, but if you put it in cold water, and slowly turn up the heat, it just sits there and gets cooked.

I think we are already in the pot and the water is getting warm, but we are sitting there dumb and happy.

[Humidston]

I think the water has those tiny bubbles you see - just before it hits a boil.

And our founders are rolling in their graves over how we've allowed DC to dictate every move we make! They must think we're all as ignorant as the sheeple.

[FairOpinion]

"They must think we're all as ignorant as the sheeple. "

Not all, but many -- and with the incremental approach, each little thing is "not something worth going to war over".

You don't see people revolting, just because the government is concerned about water conservation and dictates what kind of toilet and showerhead you can use in your own home, do you? Yet, if you think about it, having a law controlling how much water you are allow to use and what kind of toilet you are allow to install in your own home, is pretty intrusive. And this is just one of many small things, "none of which are worth fighting over", but you take the aggregate and we already have Big Brother controlling us.

[Hank Rearden]

"We're just too darn fat, ladies and gentlemen -- and we're going to do something about it," said HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson

And you're just too darn goofy-looking, Tommy, but you don't see us demanding you be traded in for someone who doesn't look like a Claymation design failure. And stop wasting our money on this crap, you moron.

Damn Big Stupid Government parasitic busybodies.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Take your soma and condoms and move along to the next line please. We have a lot of people's lives to manage here at the NIH so let's keep the line moving folks. Thank you.

[Hank Rearden]

you take the aggregate and we already have Big Brother controlling us.

And with your tagline extolling a professional politician, a man who wants power and squanders our money like a drunken sailor on stupid vote-buying scams to retain that power - you underline your own point.

[FairOpinion]

"And stop wasting our money on this crap, you moron."

==

That's another point -- they are taking OUR money, so they can tell us what to do.

We should start over from scratch, just with the Constitution, and get rid of all the useless Departments and programs, which the Federal government shouldn't be involved in.

[FairOpinion]

The main role of the Federal Government is to defend the country and the American people -- WITHOUT asking the UN or anyone else for permission.

Don't you agree with that?

[FairOpinion]

The NIH and CDC over the past number of years have been more interested in social engineering, than in real health and disease control.

I recall the CDC doing studies of gun violence, etc. How is that, their business?!

[Hank Rearden]

Yes, and Bush uses cheap throwaway lines like that to rally the Sheeple to let him get away with anything he wants. Like a $550 Billion record deficit and his "free" pill vote-buying scam. Or his steel subsidies, Welfare Farmer support, failure to even bother trying to reduce government etc.

He's just another Big Stupid Government politician who needs close watching 24 hours/day. He's not getting it.

[FairOpinion]

What you have to keep in mind, that this has been going on for way too many years, and it can't be changed overnight. Bush has to fight the War against Terror and revive the faltering, now recovering economy.

Just the way these things happened incrementally, we can reverse them incrementally, but not all at once.

Just think what would happen if Kerry became president -- I shudder at the thought.

I think that Bush, in his second term will address many more conservative concerns.

[Hank Rearden]

What you have to keep in mind, that this has been going on for way too many years, and it can't be changed overnight. Bush has to fight the War against Terror and revive the faltering, now recovering economy. Just the way these things happened incrementally, we can reverse them incrementally, but not all at once.

I'm so tired of that nonsense. How does pandering to the Greedy Geezers fight terrorists? How does caving in to Bloated Gasbag Teddy Kennedy fight terrorists?

And if he doesn't respect the conservative demands to reduce government now, why the hell would he bother to care if (and it is if) he's reelected and doesn't have to care who he offends anymore?

A second Bush term would be even more out of control than this one - he'll come up with all kinds of goofball ways to waste taxpayer money taken by force.

And the fairy pansy Pubbies will, as always, be too timid to slap down Bush's free-spending idiocies.

[FairOpinion]

Let me repeat: What do you think will happen, if Kerry gets elected?

I am totally against large government, the spending, their intrusion into our personal lives and so on.

But to keep our eye on the ball, our best change is a slow change with the Republican party, rather than throwing in the towel and allow the Dems to make things significantly worse.

[Agnes Heep]

They could bring physical education back into the public schools, but that might mean less sex education.

[FairOpinion]

YOu mean they don't have phys ed in schools?

At the very least they should have it as an optional course.

Having phys ed in school is OK, there is a big difference between that, and having the Federal government tell us what to do.