As I was reading the news the other day, scanning the headlines about the never-ending obesity epidemic, my son walked by and nonchalantly leaned over my shoulder...
"Obesity epidemic, huh?", he commented.
"No kids like that at my school". Then he casually strolled off...
Hmmm? Could he be right??? I thought to myself, as I tried to visualize the last school assembly at his primary school...
I closed my eyes and imagined all the bobbing heads, the 300 squiggling children...And couldn't picture a single portly one.
Good grief, with all the freakin studies, and health campaigns and blaming genetics or the family dog, nobody has the guts to say: "childhood obesity does not exist in high income neighborhoods!?!" (yes, yes I happened to fall ass backwards into a snooty town). But at least I can admit the town exists!!
So why are we wasting billions on failing health campaigns without admitting the 'inconvenient economic truth' ?? Why not just ask the snobby 'well-to-do" what they are doing differently?
Scanning the research, maybe a few articles here and there mention that "lack of education" plays a role, but it is always treated as an afterthought.. Never, ever as to why the less educated choose or feel they can't choose different lifestyles...
The controversial Mercola website (and Dr. Lustig) blame sugar--and I agree--the sugar lobby is hiding behind its own big butt! Never admitting that the one REAL lifestyle change in the USA over the past 65 years has been a crazy increase in refined sugar consumption...Not to mention it's dangerous addictive properties, and is it changing the gut biome?
Not too long ago, before I moved to "snooty town USA", I too lived in a place with a lot more heavy children. The one thing that really stuck out was their intense desire to eat (and it sure wasn't broccoli they wanted). At the state fair, grocery or shopping mall, I observed that these particular children had a strange preoccupation (and almost crazed excitement) when they saw ice cream, candy, cookies, etc.... And this intense desire always seemed to resonate with the parents, who would quickly hand them a goodie.. (When was the last time you saw a kid chewing on a glazed doughnut while riding in a Whole Foods shopping cart?)
If this epidemic is really hurting so many people, and costing so much money--at the very least people need to start having this honest conversation. Food (ha!) for thought!
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