Can the President helpy you lose weight?

I read several headlines over the past couple of days trumpeting how the presidential candidates are declaring they'll fight the obesity epidemic. Sounds good, but will it help?

How many people really think that what the President, or presidential candidates, say about obesity makes a difference?

So what if insurance reimburses for weight loss programs. I doubt it will make a difference. Saying we can't afford a weight loss program is just another in a long line of excuses we create as a self-defense mechanism. We can't exercise because we can't afford a gym membership. We can't eat healthy because our kids demand cookies and chips. You know the mantra.

Here's my take: losing weight comes down to each one of us. If we decide we're going to lose weight, then it happens. Once we decide that we really can make different food choices, or that food doesn't have to be the answer to solve our problems, or that regular activity is positive rather than negative, we're on the road to weight loss. Having support and encouragement along the way is certainly helpful, but not required.

I'm going to ignore whatever government officials have to say about obesity. If they want to talk about developing walking paths, or adding safe bike trails, or helping organize intramural sports for fun after school, I'm all over that. But when they start saying that they can stem the tide against gaining weight, I won't listen. I know it comes down to each of us taking a stand in our own lives.

Healthy foods for kids

Have you heard about the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative? It's a voluntary self-regulation program consisting of many of the top children's food and beverage producers, including: Burger King Corp.; Cadbury Adams, USA, LLC; Campbell Soup Company, The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, Inc.; The Hershey Company, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods Inc.; Mars, Inc.; McDonald's USA, PepsiCo, Inc. and Unilever United States. It is estimated that these companies accounted for more than two-thirds of children's food and beverage television advertising expenditures in 2004.

You can read the specifics of the company pledges at: http://www.cbbb.org/initiative/pledges.asp For example, Burger King pledges that by the end of 2008 advertising directed primarily to children under 12 will be for Kids Meals that meet the following nutrition criteria:
- No more than 560 calories per meal
- Less than 30 percent of calories from fat
- Less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat
- No added trans fats
- No more than 10 percent of calories from added sugars

Other companies have similar pledges designed to make consumers feel better about feeding their children at fast food restaurants. Children's meals that come with milk and applesauce instead of soda and french fries is definitely a step in the right direction. Of course, it's even better to serve home-cooked meals that include vegetables as well as fruit, but in today's busy lifestyle fast food is a fact of life for many families.

What do you think about this initiative? Do you think it will help reduce childhood obesity and encourage our kids to choose healthier foods, or is it just an advertising gimmick?

Do you know how many calories you eat?

NYC made the news recently when it decided that certain restaurants would be required to post nutrition info, including calorie content, on their foods. The theory is that if we only knew the Big Mac and large fries we crave contain 1110 calories, we would order a hamburger and small fries, at only 500 calories, instead.

I doubt the calorie content makes much difference to the vast majority of people.

Everybody knows that fast food, fried foods, sugary foods, and snack foods are high in calories. We all know that the bigger the burger the higher the calories. Ask anyone, and they'll tell you that a piece of fruit has fewer calories than even a small order of fries.

Nutrition information is on every package of food we purchase, yet that doesn't stop most people from eating far more calories than they need. If we truly want to stem the tide of obesity, it will take more than information labels.

- We need to put more advertising dollars into healthy foods, and less into junk food.
- The government should subsidize the cost of healthy foods like fruit and vegetables instead of the components in high calorie foods like sugar and fat.
- Employees need more than a 15 minute lunch break.
- Every town and community should have sidewalks and bike paths in areas where people actually want to go.

I bet each of you reading this can add one or two items to this list, and we'd get more results than simply posting calorie information.

Virus causes obesity?

Even though scientists continue to tell us that what makes us gain weight is simple math - we eat more calories than we expend - researchers continue to look for other potential causes of obesity. Now there's new evidence that a simple virus, one that often causes colds or pinkeye, may be implicated in obesity for some people. Check out the article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/20/AR2007082001350.html

It seems that this virus may change human stem cells into fat cells, and the more fat cells we have, the more we weigh. In one study, 30% of obese people had antibodies to this virus, meaning they've been exposed to it in the past.

So what about the other 70% of overweight people? What makes them overweight?

It's clear that we don't have a good handle on either the causes of obesity (except for eating too much and moving too little) or the treatment of obesity. Prevention seems to work best, but our society isn't really big on preventing diseases - we want treatment, and we want it quick.

This latest study doesn't provide any hard answers. It only muddies the waters, adding yet one more possible reason for obesity to the mix. It may be years before scientists unravel the mystery completely. Until then, our best defense is to prevent obesity by encouraging an active lifestyle and healthy eating habits.

I think I'll go eat some cucumbers.