...So Did Ya' Get The Memo?

Reading through the countless post-election articles in the LA Times about the new wave of hope sweeping across the country and skimming through a piece about a Barbie store that was launched in Argentina, my eyes caught the big ‘O’ on the next page and opened wide to focus on the line that followed; ‘Obese kids have arteries as thick as 45-year-olds.’

While the interests of the United States have been directed abroad, one of our many important domestic problems has clearly been overlooked – obesity. Although this country has been focused on national security and the safety of Americans in our continuous battle against terrorism oversees, are we really paying attention to the current well being of our children at home?

Let’s face it, America is known for fast food. By the time a child is 5, ‘would you like fries with that?’ is apart of their weekly vocabulary. Studies have shown that 16.3% of children and teens are obese and an additional 15.6% are overweight (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – and with fast food chains stretching from one end of a city to the other, the situation isn’t getting any better. The country is facing an epidemic of childhood obesity and we as consumers are feeding right into it.

While one can make the argument that parenting is what needs to be reassessed through stricter diets at home, the problem is perpetuated regardless through the influence of food marketing to American children and teens. It is simply inconsistent with other healthy diet alternatives. The fast food market has made it so easy and tempting for consumers who are short on time, money or even patience to eat. They simply get in their car, drive down the street, order a meal from their vehicle, get their food and scarf it down all in less than ten minutes. We boast about how we’ve managed to create an expedient alternative for most things, but it’s sad how convenience has taken priority over health.

We are raising a generation of children that are going to have a significant increase in vascular diseases as they get older. While this suggests a major health problem, because children will be getting severe cardiovascular diseases at a much younger age than their parents, there will be more at risk than just personal health. If people become disabled at the age of 30 or 40 after already developing heart disease in their 20s and 30s, we could potentially lose a significant fraction of the workforce in this country. This fact, if nothing else, should be the big red flag signaling some form of reversal – unless this country is willing to delve into deeper problems than it is already in.

Cardiologists, nutritionists and other health promoters have stated time and again that if we can identify the condition early and start modifying triglycerides (‘bad’ cholesterol), we can probably prevent progression and even promote regression.

Recent interesting developments that have left me a bit more hopeful of fast food are the ‘healthy food’ sections that different chains have started to implement. McDonald’s, for example, carries 1% low fat milk and fruit & walnut salads among other salads, while Taco Bell carries “Fresco Style” items in which the cheese and sauce in regular menu items are replaced with Taco Bell's "Fiesta Salsa" (salsa with tomatoes, onions, and cilantro) – reducing the calories and fat content of many items.

Again, although these are positive alternatives to otherwise very unhealthy selections, the core of the problem won’t be solved by adding a salad or two to a menu full of cheeseburgers and burritos, but can only be understood after accepting that we are socialized into this culture of fast food from an early age through marketing. It is the early socialization that needs to be altered paired with the modification of the products that are marketed to our kids. The media should be geared toward educating children on eating right from the get go, and getting them to associate good health with their choice of food, instead of pushing them to become anorexic or bulimic after the fact.

It is absolutely appalling to think that we entice them with junk and then flaunt magazine covers with models and actresses less than half an average person’s size. In allowing for children to build consistently healthy lifestyles at a younger age, we can help ensure a better future for the American people at home.