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Jennie Lee

Dr. Steinberg

COMP 311

May 11, 2006

America Eats

On the television screen, juicy cheeseburgers dance and flash before an audience’s eyes.

Enormous tubs of popcorn beckon movie-goers with a sweet aroma. The giant golden arches off

the highway ignite the screams of a hungry child. Advertisements for fast food saturate America,

while saturated fat clogs Americans’ arteries.

Perhaps as a result of this well-advertised commodity, a one-thousand-and-twelve pound

man, John Finnerty, is removed from his New York home by the fire department and transported

to a hospital via flatbed truck for treatment of bronchitis. Literally weighing over half a ton, Mr.

Finnerty can now claim to be a prestigious member of the 900 Club – a list, collected by Karl

Niedershuh of Dimension Magazine, of every known person who weighed nine hundred pounds

or more. Of the twenty-eight people on the list, twenty-five are American.

Meanwhile, a June 2005 article in The Washington Post by Jerry Markon reports a

lawsuit filed against the dairy industry for fraudulently claiming that increased consumption of

dairy products leads to increased weight loss. The same article reports that “the percentage of

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young people who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980.” Ironically, while people

desperately search for easy ways to lose weight, they continue to grow larger.

Unfortunately for some, that growth can be fatal. Walt Larimore reported the story of a

fourteen-year-old girl whose body gave out because her heart could not support her. She had a

heart attack and died… from obesity. A mere teenager, she had literally eaten herself to death.

Now, on the American Obesity Association website, a 25-year-old woman posts: “My

mom is morbidly obese and always has been. I have never known her thin. Today is Wednesday

and she is scheduled for a Gastric Bypass surgery on Friday. I am excited for her and myself to

get this surgery. I look forward to the day when my mom's little 5' 1" frame will carry a healthy

weight instead of the 384 pounds it carries now. Every day of her life, since I was a child, has

been filled with depression and hopelessness. I cannot imagine her pain nor do I ever want to be

able to know it.”

This is America, where bigger is better, and the size of our citizens proves that belief. We

live in a country in which people can go from rags to riches, where immigrants flock for

opportunity, where luxuries are affordable. Yet, we abuse our privileges, for we are a country in

which, according to the American Heart Association website, 136.5 million men and women

were overweight, with 64 million of those being clinically obese, in 2004. As obesity rates soar,

they threaten to overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America. Fat, this

often-feared natural substance, is beginning to immobilize, cause disease in, and kill our

population. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, fat is an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet. One

might wonder where it comes from, what we need it for, and why it threatens to become Public

Enemy Number One.

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From the no-fat, low-fat products on grocery store shelves to the television shows and

channels dedicated completely to losing weight, fat seems to have a bad reputation in today’s

American society. However, fat is not always a bad thing. In fact, it is actually an essential

building block in a nutritious diet, given to us by nature to play an important role in keeping

human beings healthy. Yes, we need to store some fat, but in order to use this knowledge

effectively, it is important to understand the different kinds of fat, their functions in our bodies,

and the point at which fat’s usefulness and healthfulness runs out.

The two types of fat that have gained it an unhealthy reputation are saturated fats and

trans fats. Both saturated fats and trans fats are dangerous because, when consumed in large

amounts, they can raise blood cholesterol levels, which may ultimately lead to heart disease.

Cholesterol, like fat, is healthy in low doses. John Henkel, writing for the FDA Consumer

Magazine, described cholesterol’s healthy effects: “The body needs cholesterol for digesting

dietary fats, making hormones, building cell walls, and other important processes.” However, he

explained, should too much cholesterol be ingested, plaque can begin to build in arteries,

obstructing blood flow, which could result in chest pains, blood clots, heart attacks, or even

death.

Saturated fats, found mostly in foods that come from animals, such as beef, pork, and

whole milk products, should be limited to 7-10 percent of a person’s daily caloric intake per day,

as recommended by the American Heart Association website. According to Dr. Laurel Sharmer,

a certified Health Education Specialist who teaches in the Community Health program at SUNY

College at Potsdam in Potsdam, NY, our bodies have no nutritional need for saturated fat. It does

nothing beneficial, and once ingested, it simply turns into cholesterol in the bloodstream.

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Unfortunately, many favorite foods – such as chocolate, points out Dr. Sharmer – are high in

saturated fat, and thus should be strictly limited in one’s diet.

Another unhealthy fat, trans fat, has been the cause of recent controversy, as its disguise

of being “the healthy replacement to lard, butter, and saturated fats” has given way to its true

nature: increasing the risk of heart attacks (Deardoff). Essentially, wrote Julie Deardoff in a

January 2006 issue of the Chicago Tribune, trans fats are “artificial saturated fats,” used for

preservation, taste, and texture purposes in many of our favorite snack foods, such as french

fries, Oreos, and frozen dinners. Their giveaway on packaging is generally the term “partially

hydrogenated,” but as of January 1, 2006, the Federal government mandates food companies to

list trans fat content on food labels. Now, packages proudly boast “0 grams trans fat!” while their

harmful saturated fat content still leers at the consumer from nutrition labels. Concentrating on

the lack of trans fat in an item may distract consumers from focusing on the detrimental

ingredients that it still contains in great portions.

There are other types of fat, however, that are necessary to have in the body, despite the

popular notion that cutting fat out completely is a healthy way to lose weight. Lisa Petruccelli, a

certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist who coaches soccer at SUNY College at Potsdam,

revealed that certain types of fat are essential “for normal physiological functions. Fat is needed

in tissues such as bone marrow, intestines, heart, liver, muscle, [and] nerve cells… Stored fat

also serves a number of functions as it can be used for energy, it is an insulator for body heat,

and it is padding from physical trauma.” Though many might claim they’d like to have 0% body

fat, Petruccelli recommends that men maintain at least 3% body fat, and at least 12% for women.

Furthermore, psychologist Christine A. Smith, in an article entitled “Women, Weight, and Body

Image,” summarized findings by exercise physiologist Glenn Gaesser: “[Fat] can actually reduce

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the risk of certain diseases, such as lung cancer and osteoporosis, in both men and women. In

addition, thigh and hip fat in women appears to provide protection against cardiovascular disease

as well as certain types of diabetes” (82). Therefore, it is important to consume fats regularly, but

only the right kinds of fat and in the right amounts, for consuming the wrong kinds in the wrong

amounts can lead to virtually the opposite side effects.

Polyunsaturated fats, which can be found in certain oils, nuts, and seeds, as well as in

surprising sources such as mayonnaise, tub margarine, and salad dressings (American Diabetes

Association), are “neutral,” according to Dr. Sharmer. They will not harm or benefit a body

when consumed. However, there are two types of fats that actually perform healthy functions

within the body. One type of healthy fat, monounsaturated fat, takes a proactive approach toward

health – it can help lower the “bad” kind of cholesterol. It can be found in foods such as nuts,

olive oil, canola oil, and sesame seeds, according to the American Diabetes Association. Omega-

3 fatty acids are a second type of healthy fat, which can keep arteries from clogging. Dr. Sharmer

explained that since human bodies do not naturally produce omega-3 fatty acids, it is imperative

to consume them within a healthy diet. A good source of omega-3 fatty acids is fish, including

tuna, sardines, and salmon (American Diabetes Association).

Consuming monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids, then, is necessary to maintain

a healthy diet. But what happens inside the body once the fat has been consumed? A common

misconception is that fat cells are much like garbage bins, waiting for people to deposit their

trash until they fill up. On the contrary, as has been realized by scientists over the past decade,

fat cells play an active, rather than an idle, role in many of the body’s important functions. A

Washington Post article delved into the many uses for fat cells, and the complex ways in which

they interact, essentially acting as a hormone-producing endocrine organ. Reporter Rob Stein

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described the ways in which fat exercises control over the immune system, influences blood

clotting and blood vessel constriction, and even dictates the appropriate time for human beings to

reproduce. Fat cells are more like multitasking, overachieving students than the dull couch

potatoes that they are assumed to resemble.

Another important function is fat cells’ role in storing and releasing energy. Fat is an

internal energy source, along with carbohydrates and proteins. As described by Dr. Craig

Freudenrich on the “How Fat Cells Work” website at howstuffworks.com, the body engages in a

process called lipolysis, which involves breaking down fats into glycerol and fatty acids, when it

is exercising or not eating. If people store more fat than they burn for energy, however, their fat

cells begin to stretch and enlarge. Fat cells could be thought of as balloons in the sense that they

can start out deflated, but as material is pumped into them, they expand until they reach their

limit. Then, as Dr. Evan David Rosen, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical

School, wrote in “The Secret(e) Life of Fat Cells,” “When they reach the limit, they don't divide”

– or pop – “they send out a signal to nearby immature cells to start dividing to produce more fat

cells.” Nutrition specialists from the University of Missouri Extension explained that by

adolescence, human beings have created a set minimum number of fat cells that will not

decrease, and it is unlikely for that number to increase throughout a person’s lifetime, as long as

he or she practices moderate eating habits.

When those fat cells start stretching to their limit and new ones begin to emerge,

however, problems can arise – problems that in this day and age seem to be a dominant force on

our list of concerns. As Petruccelli stated, fat becomes too much “when it impacts health,

mobility, daily functioning” – essentially, when excess fat gets in the way of people’s bodily

movement and the function of their organs. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) website

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identifies several ways to measure whether a person falls in the healthy range of body fat,

including lean body mass, fat mass, fat percent, body weight, desired body weight, desired body

percentage, and percent body fat. Healthchecksystems.com borrowed a chart from ACE to list

the healthy body fat percentage categories for women and men, which is reproduced below.

As evidenced in the table, there is a

difference between expectations for body

makeup between men and women. In fact,

men and women even tend to store fat in

different places. Women are more likely to

develop a “pear shape” by collecting fat

around their hips and buttocks, while men tend to take on the more health-risky “apple shape,”

collecting fat around their abdomens (annecollins.com).

Those differences between men and women disappear when the unit of measurement is

changed to Body Mass Index (BMI). The BMI measurement is used for all populations and is

calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by his or her height in meters squared.

As explained on the American Obesity Association

website, there are several categories of BMI other than

“healthy” and “obese,” as shown in the table below.

Weight can range from healthy all the way to severe

obesity, and as one advances to each stage, more

medical concerns arise.

Unfortunately, the number of Americans who fall within the overweight category and

above is increasing, and along with that increasing number comes increasing public concern. A

Classification Women (% fat) Men (% fat)

Essential fat 10-12% 2-4%

Athletes 14-20% 6-13%

Fitness 21-24% 14-17%

Acceptable 25-31% 18-25%

Obese 32% plus 25% plus

Category BMI

Healthy 18.25-24.9

Overweight 25-29.9

Obesity (Class 1) 30-34.9

Obesity (Class 2) 35-39.9

Severe Obesity 40 or above

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2004 survey conducted by the United States Center for Disease Control cited on the American

Heart Association website showed an increase of 17.4% in the instances of overweight/obese

American men ages 20-74 between 1960 and 2002. The same population of women increased

18.3% in the same amount of time.

Now, with the condition affecting over 30% of the American population, obesity has

been classified as a “chronic disease.” The reasons for this classification as stated on the

American Obesity Association website are that it:

• affects more than a quarter of the American population

• causes many serious medical conditions

• causes at least 300,000 deaths in the U.S. each year

• is the second leading cause of unnecessary deaths

• carries annual healthcare costs of about $100 billion

The medical conditions that can accompany obesity are indeed numerous and dangerous. With

such a high number of possible complications, obesity is certainly not a disease to be taken

lightly, but one may wonder how or why people end up storing so much extra weight.

One reason is out of our control – genetics. We are each born with genes that help in our

processing of food once it has been ingested into our systems. As Cathy Newman wrote in a

2004 National Geographic article entitled “Why Are We So Fat?”: “Evolution betrays us. We

store fat for the famine that never comes.” Dr. Sharmer explained that our bodies evolved to be

very efficient at storing extra energy for the winter when food used to be in short supply.

Unfortunately, since food is now abundantly and affordably found around the United States,

those genes that help us to store fat in order to protect against starvation have long outlived their

welcome. In 1994, one hormone called leptin was discovered to play a role in appetite

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suppression, telling the body when it is full and when it needs to eat (Newman). Unfortunately,

the genetic issue for some people may be a biological drive to consume more food, which,

combined with an increasingly sedentary society, leads to a timeless battle of which we are all

too well aware.

Calories in versus calories out. Each day, we take in a certain number of calories and

burn a certain number of calories, either from our day to day routines or through exercise.

Consuming any number of calories above what we burn will help us lose weight, and consuming

any number of calories below what we burn will unfailingly make us gain. As Newman put it:

“The First Law of Fat says that anything you eat beyond your immediate need for energy, from

avocados to ziti, converts to fat.” The problem seems to be that society persuades us to consume

food in large portions and does not do as effective a job at encouraging us to work the extra

calories off. Furthermore, we seem to be pressured to eat the wrong kinds of food. In a fast-paced

world, fast food is the convenient way to satisfy hunger, but it is full of saturated fat and contains

many more calories than are necessary to eat in one sitting.

Environment, therefore, is a third factor that contributes to obesity. According to the

American Obesity Association website, “An environment that promotes healthy weight is one

that encourages consumption of nutritious foods in reasonable portions and regular physical

activity.” Certainly corporate America is not especially well known for displaying those defining

characteristics. Commercials on television rarely effectively promote healthy food such as fruits,

vegetables, and grilled fish. Instead, we are bombarded with advertisements for soft drinks,

candy bars, and heavy dinner specials at restaurants. Kelly Brownell of the Yale Center for

Eating and Weight Disorders was quoted in Newman’s article: “Bad food is cheap, heavily

promoted, and engineered to taste good. Healthy food is hard to get, not promoted, and

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expensive.” Who would spring for the pricy grilled chicken salad at a restaurant when

McDonald’s is selling hamburgers for ninety-nine cents next door?

In fact, the appeal of fast food restaurants became the cause of legal action in July of

2002 when New York City lawyer Samuel Hirsch filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s, Burger

King, Wendy’s, and KFC Corporation. Michael Park of Foxnews.com reported that the main

plaintiff in the case was an obese 56-year-old man named Caesar Barber who claimed that,

reminiscent of charges against the tobacco industry, he became addicted to the fatty foods served

at the accused fast food chains, and that addiction was to blame for his health problems. Mr.

Barber, at 5’10” and weighing 270 pounds (Sullum), allegedly ate at these restaurants four or

five times per week out of “necessity,” because of its convenience and his inability to cook

(Park).

Following this failed attempt at pegging blame on the fast food corporations for the rising

obesity levels in America, Marguerite Higgins of The Washington Times reported that Mr.

Hirsch tried his luck again. This time, his clients were eight New York children, each of whom

blamed McDonald’s foods for their obesity and other health problems. Subsequently, many

others hopped onboard the lawsuit bandwagon, as Higgins cited five additional instances of

lawyers suing or warning manufacturers of unhealthy foods for inaccurate or incomplete listings

of nutritional information, or even simply for producing high-calorie foods in the first place.

However, as of March of 2004, it is illegal to file lawsuits against fast food restaurants,

according to a bill passed by the House of Representatives to help curb the prevalence of

frivolous lawsuits (Barrett).

The 100 million plus American men and women with obesity now need to find

somewhere else to point the finger. It is, after all, unlikely that they will assume responsibility for

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their obesity. Clinical psychologist Patricia Dalton labeled today’s Americans, who always seem

to be looking for someone else on which to blame their problems, the “Don’t Blame Me”

Generation. She wrote, “It is a culture that reflects a studiously nonjudgmental attitude toward

one's own behavior, while ignoring its effects on others.” While an ostensibly feasible argument

for the obesity issue might be that people need to exercise self-control and logic when putting

food in their mouths, realizing that they need to expend the same amount of calories in a day as

they ingest in order to maintain weight, there may also be cultural explanations for the obesity

epidemic in America.

Albeit a convoluted and diverse culture, certain traits have emerged as characteristic of

the modern-day American. In the 1920s, the United States was about entertainment and leisure.

In the 1950s, the United States was about family. In 2006, the United States is about speed.

Americans have gotten used to having everything instantaneous. With cellular phones, the

internet, and self check-outs at the store, the American public generally does not need to wait for

anything. In fact, no one has time to wait for anything, for modern Americans also tend to be

“workaholics.” In a world where “[succeeding]… requires lightning-fast reflexes and the ability

to communicate and collaborate across the globe,” the 40-hour work week is often surpassed,

and people are living and breathing their jobs both from the office and from home, wrote

Michael Mandel in BusinessWeek. As Lisa Petruccelli stated, furthermore, “Americans are on the

run and do not feel they have the time to prepare food so they eat out, they eat prepared meals.”

In other words, people are not able or willing to fit healthy eating styles into their busy

schedules.

Unfortunately, this poor time management – or perhaps lack of time to manage – has led

to late night and irregular meals for some Americans. Concerning the SUNY College at Potsdam

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campus, the Potsdam Auxiliary College Education Services (PACES) director recounted a trend

toward later eating times for students that has happened over recent years. “Looking back over

our hours of operation,” said Dan Hayes, employee of PACES since 1977 and director since

1982, “we see more demand for later service times. The Nite Owl [dining hall] is very popular

for late night service. Lehman Dining Hall is open longer hours to accommodate the changing

class schedules. Not many years ago Lehman closed for dinner at 6 pm. Now our busier service

times are after 6.” Indeed, the busy working world is sometimes modeled by college students

who are taking many credits and becoming involved outside of the classroom, finding it difficult

to fit regular, if not early, meal periods into their schedules. This might not be such an issue if

eating late was not an unhealthy choice. As Bridget Bradish, the SUNY College at Potsdam

Campus Health Educator, explained, people’s metabolisms – or the rates at which their bodies

process food – begin slowing down as the day winds down, not to mention that people are more

sedentary at night and burn fewer calories. Therefore, much of the food taken in during the later

hours of the day are stored as fat.

Valuing instantaneity, working hard, and not having much time between tasks to cook an

elaborate meal, it seems no wonder that Americans are so hooked on quick and easy meals like

McDonald’s cheeseburgers and convenient snacks like potato chips and soda. All things

considered, however, one can certainly see the benefits of living a lifestyle where convenient

foods are a staple. For one thing, they taste good. For another, they are not time-consuming to

make or to eat. They are also cheap – at least when buying one product at a time. When looked at

as a whole, however, they are quite expensive, and profit from the sales of such foods greatly

benefits the American economy. Michael Rosenwald of The Washington Post, in an article

reprinted in The Watertown Daily Times, recounted the revenue brought in by the sales of quick

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and easy food in 2004: $37 billion went to carbonated beverages, $3.9 billion on cookies, and we

ate $6.2 billion worth of potato chips. According to William L. Weis, a Seattle University

management professor, as quoted by Rosenwald, we will likely spend $133.7 on fast-food by the

end of 2006 (E8). These amounts are unfathomable when one thinks of the number of houses,

cars, or, sadly, meals for the poor, that could be bought with those billions upon billions of

dollars. Yet, for the sake of convenience and taste (and perhaps addiction, if you asked Caesar

Barber), Americans continue to ingest the grotesquely-high-calorie foods and then sit at their

desks, in front of the television, or in their

cars rather than burn them off.

What exactly is it about fast food

that is unhealthy? You might ask Morgan

Spurlock, director and test subject of

Super Size Me, a documentary about fast

food. His experiment was to eat nothing

but fast food from McDonald’s, three

times a day for a month, during which

time he gained a jaw-dropping 25 pounds

of the bad kind of fat, according to

Harvard Magazine’s Craig Lambert. Not

only did Spurlock gain weight, but he reported headaches and high cholesterol, blood pressure,

and blood sugar. It really is no wonder that Spurlock fared so poorly during his month as a fast

food junkie. The sort of food one can purchase from McDonald’s or Burger King takes up a vast

majority of the nutritional components needed each day for a healthy diet. The United States

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Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines of 2005 suggest that women and men between

the ages of 19-30 who lead a sedentary lifestyle should consume 2,000 and 2,400 calories per

day, respectively. This number drops by 200 calories when each population reaches 31 years and

again when it reaches 51 years.

This means that a 21-year-old woman who eats an 800-calorie Whopper with cheese

from Burger King has already consumed 40% of her recommended daily caloric intake. Add a

medium order of French fries and she is up to 58%. Add a small chocolate shake and she has hit

nearly 79% of her recommended caloric intake for the day, and that is only one meal. Even

worse, of those calories, nearly 20% come from fat. Imagine what happens when people eat a

fast food meal once a week, twice a week, or every day per week, and then do not make an effort

to work off the extra calories. Furthermore, the nutritional makeup of the food will stay the same

as we get older and continue to eat more meals, but our bodies require fewer calories. If that

woman eats the very same meal when she is 40, she will have consumed almost 88% of her

recommended daily calories in one sitting (Fast Food Facts).

Though this enlightening nutritional information about fast food and other convenient

snacks is available, people continue to wait in line outside of drive-thru windows and order late-

night pizzas. Why don’t we wake up and go for fruits and vegetables? Bradish attributes part of

the problem in Northern New York to a lack of education about these issues. Many of the less

fortunate residents of the North Country do not have vehicles to get to any nutrition education

programs. They also can not afford quality healthcare, and their healthcare providers may not

advise them about nutritional choices. Furthermore, though the food banks in the area are quite

full, they are unfortunately overflowing with the wrong sorts of foods for a balanced diet. They

are full of macaroni and cheese and other processed foods that have little or no nutritional value.

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Another reason that Americans are not turning away from convenient foods is that they

are bombarded with messages that such food is good (if not healthy) to eat. Bridget Murray of

the Monitor on Psychology referred to America as a “toxic food environment.” Literally, fast

food is toxic due to the detrimental effects of overeating and high fat, cholesterol, and sugar

intake, but yet it is nearly impossible to drive down the highway without seeing a burger joint or

at least an advertisement for one. Discussing the thoughts of Dr. Kelly Brownell, a psychology

professor at Yale University, Murray wrote, “Of particular concern to Brownell is America's

passive acceptance of unhealthy food. Americans fail to recognize, for example, the possible

damage done by such fast-food icons as Ronald McDonald.” From a young age, children

associate McDonald’s restaurants with a smiling clown and toys in their food boxes. My younger

sister at only one year of age would say “mmmmm” when we drove past the local Burger King.

While visiting Europe, I ate at McDonald’s in Belgium and Austria, Burger King in Germany,

and Subway in England. Fast food restaurants tend to be recognizable and available wherever we

go, and they serve foods that are tasty and familiar. With the positive messages and feelings

surrounding them, it must be easy to forget the harm the actual food does to our bodies.

A popular way of sending positive messages about fast food is through television

advertising. Flipping through television stations, we so often see happy consumers of unhealthy

food smiling out at us. In fact, Americans are sitting in front of the television set so often to

begin with that there is more than adequate time for us to absorb messages about fast food and to

avoid working off the food we have overeaten. Americans over 2 years of age watched television

an average of four-and-a-half hours per day from 2004-2005, according to Nielsen Media

reports. As Craig Lambert wrote, “the most powerful technology driving the obesity epidemic is

television.” He reported that advertising is the way in which the interests of the food and TV

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industries both meet their goals. People are watching TV (and being sedentary), which is the goal

of the television industry, and people are seeing advertisements for food on television which

leads them to consume more.

Furthermore, they are probably eating while they watch TV. The Stanford School of

Medicine found in 2004 that “children eat nearly 20 percent of their daily calories while

watching television” (Williams). In fact, Dr. Thomas Robinson of the Stanford Prevention

Research Center concluded that the problem is not necessarily the types of food the children are

snacking on in front of the television, but that they are consuming more calories than they would

if they were not watching TV. On how many occasions do we unconsciously eat entire tubs of

popcorn while at the movie theater? When distracted by television, people are simply less likely

to take account of how many pieces of pizza they have demolished or how many times they have

dipped their hands into the bowl of potato chips. Even when overeating healthier foods, the

calories can add up.

Williams also reported that past studies have shown children to be affected by television

advertisements for unhealthy food, and that adults tend to spend more time watching television

when they are eating in front of it. Furthermore, the time management issue may be affected by

the amount of time a person spends watching television each day. In his book, Fat Land, Greg

Critser reported results of a study conducted by an exercise physiologist at Brigham Young

University named Larry Tucker. Tucker discovered that “TV time was strongly and inversely

associated with duration of weekly exercise” (71). Perhaps we are not as “busy” as we think, and

rather, we are taking up the time when we could be cooking healthy meals or exercising by

watching our favorite television programs.

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However, television is not the only culprit for the generally sedentary lifestyle of the

American public. Computer games and internet surfing can steal hours away from time at the

gym. Cars and public transportation decrease the need to walk or bike from place to place. Ruth

Fishbeck, director of the St. Lawrence County Health Initiative in Potsdam, NY, stated,

“Americans have a love of labor-[saving] devices and automobiles which has effectively

removed any need to really use their bodies as transportation or as tools.” In general, we have

figured out ways to do everything quickly, and as a result have no need to put much physical

effort into our every day lives, without setting aside time for it, which many Americans do not

have with our busy schedules. Perhaps if we cut into our four-and-a-half hours of television-

watching per day, we would find some extra time to get our bodies moving.

Other than eating more in front of the television, maybe we are eating more as a whole

because it is so readily available. Lambert wrote, “Never in human experience has food been

available in the staggering profusion seen in North America today.” One can see what he means

by noting the refreshment stands at many sports games or theater productions, walking down the

main street of a town and smelling the local grills and pizza joints, stopping at a gas station to

fuel up and almost unfailingly finding a convenience store, or stumbling across a vending

machine around every corner. Unfortunately, the food sales we are bombarded with are not likely

for fruits and vegetables. Instead, the foods are full of sugar and calories – soft drinks, candy,

chips – easy and inexpensive to produce in mass quantities and even easier to consume in mass

quantities. As Lambert wrote, “Humans can eat convenient, refined, highly processed food with

great speed, enabling them to consume an astonishing caloric load—literally thousands of

calories—in minutes.” Furthermore, since food is so readily available, people are likely to eat not

because they are hungry, but because they can. Oftentimes food is the center of a social event,

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and there are likely many occasions when people are not necessarily hungry, but they eat the

provided snacks either to be polite, to have something to do, or because it is difficult to resist

good-tasting food.

Unfortunately, the food industry capitalizes on the American tendency to gravitate toward

good-tasting, unhealthy foods. In Fat Land, Critser explained the 1970s growth in use of high

fructose corn syrup as an inexpensive sweetener and preservative. HFCS, tasty oil that is high in

saturated fat, hiked up the calorie count in foods made with it and increased chances of health

risks, such as clogged arteries, that are associated with consumption of saturated fat. However,

the most important thing to food manufacturers was that HFCS was a cheap commodity that

served its purpose well, and thus foods made with it could be sold at bargain prices and give the

consuming public more for their money (8-19). Now, “values” abound in stores when we see the

super-sized bag of potato chips or bottle of soda, giving the consumer more (calories) for his or

her money, and unfortunately, healthy food is rarely seen in the coupon book. Restaurants offer

huge main courses plus tempting appetizers, desserts, and beverages. Buffets are a great place to

eat as much as desired in one sitting, and often that is much more than a body needs.

Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, as quoted by Craig Lambert,

described the difference between French culture where cuisine is rich and waistlines are slim,

and America where cuisine is convenient and abundant and waistlines keep growing. He said

that the French are more concerned with quality rather than quantity. They eat smaller portions

of their favorite foods, but in America, people tend not to feel satisfied until they are full. In Dr.

Willett’s words, “feeling stuffed and loosening your belt has high value in American culture. We

eat as if every meal is a festival.” It seems there would be more of a cause to celebrate if so many

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Americans were not overweight because of our propensity to overindulge and clean our loaded

plates.

Part of the problem seems to be that as Americans continue to grow, people and policies

begin to get more lax. Rather than create more stringent physical education requirements,

schools begin to eliminate them. Rather than

keep clothes sizes the same so that people

begin to realize they can not fit into their

wardrobe, clothing manufacturers make larger

sizes. As Greg Critser pointed out in Fat

Land, “[by] the mid-1980s… [market]

research had shown that the boomers – the

spenders – were getting larger, and, typically,

that they did not want to be reminded of their largeness” (57). Then, people started to be told that

they did not even have to endure strenuous workouts at the gym or run for miles in order to meet

their bodies’ fitness needs. Instead, Critser reported, in the early 1990s, the American College of

Sports Medicine realized that people would respond better to regimens that were not seen as

“overly demanding” so it recommended “moderate, accumulated” activity as a way to stay

healthy (90). Being the look-for-the-easy-way-out people that Americans are, the media began

broadcasting that doing everyday, ordinary things over time would be as good for a person’s

health as running a marathon, and people then had an excuse for laziness. After all, lifting the

remote control twenty times a day was obviously as beneficial as going to the gym and doing ten

reps with a barbell. Within the last few years, the ACSM published a revision of this

misconstrued position, claiming that “adequate physical activity” meant breaking a sweat (95). It

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became obvious that if given an excuse or an out, Americans would fail to push their bodies to

stay in shape.

In the meantime, while the United States public spends their average four-and-a-half

hours per day in front of the television, snacking on unhealthy food and avoiding strenuous

physical activity, the fat is accumulating and taking a dire physical toll. Oftentimes, the body is

compared to a car, and food to fuel. The more high-quality fuel a person puts into a vehicle, the

more efficiently and longer the car will run; bigger cars require more fuel than smaller cars; and

sometimes cars are just too small to effectively carry all the cargo onboard. So with people.

To start with, a person must eat the right sorts of foods (or fuel) in order to gain optimal

functioning of his or her body. Polyunsaturated fats lower cholesterol, protein helps build muscle

and maintain tissue, and fiber helps prevent heart disease and diabetes (Harvard School of Public

Health), so moderate consumption of foods containing those materials helps bodies to function

properly. However, many of the fast and convenient foods, so often consumed in large amounts

and made increasingly available, contain saturated fats and sugars. Since our bodies have no

need for saturated fats, we turn the fats into cholesterol, which clogs our arteries. The bad kind of

sugar – that is, fructose, the main ingredient in soft drinks – “[skews] the national metabolism

toward fat storage” (Critser, 139). It is easy to consume mass amounts of high fructose corn

syrup without really realizing it when we eat the high-processed foods so readily available today.

Doing so, however, packs on extra empty calories, converts a lot of those calories to fat, and may

eventually lead to heart disease (Challem). In short, it is important to put the right foods into our

bodies, but it is also important to consume them in the right quantities.

Unfortunately, the culture in which we live does not encourage us to eat the correct

portions for our bodies. We need a certain number of calories each day for energy, and certain

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types of foods to maintain normal functioning, but once we exceed the amount of food we need

each day, our bodies begin to take the extra calories and convert them into stored fat to be used

later. As Dr. Sharmer explained, evolution ensured that we became very efficient at storing extra

energy for the winter months when people used to have a lot more trouble finding food. When

we overeat and the body has taken in an excess amount of calories, those calories get stored for

our “hibernation.” The only problem is that there is never a scarcity of food, now that snacks are

conveniently located around every corner, so we keep storing fat to keep us going through a

“winter” that never comes.

Furthermore, as Bridget Bradish said, the bigger we get, the more fuel we need to sustain

ourselves, so bigger people are driven to consume more food. Meanwhile, she explained, just as

bigger cars need more fuel and are less efficient at processing it, larger people become less

efficient at processing what they do take into their systems. The result of eating too much of the

wrong kinds of foods is a body frame that has stayed the same size while the weight keeps

building on top of it. Greg Critser invoked the car analogy, comparing the obese body to “a four-

cylinder car pulling a trailer full of bricks; it is, in the simplest sense, overloaded” (134).

Carrying around all that extra weight and being unable to efficiently process the food one takes

in will inevitably lead to a plethora of health problems that are becoming unsettlingly familiar in

the United States.

As mentioned earlier, eating too much saturated fat can raise the amount of low-density

lipoprotein – or “bad” cholesterol – in the blood. According to the American Heart Association

website, human bodies create the amount of cholesterol they need and do not need any extra

entering the body. When too much cholesterol is in the blood stream, it can begin forming a hard

deposit along the linings of arteries. Imagine the difference between drawing water through a

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wide open straw compared to a tiny straw. The more cholesterol that builds up in the arteries, the

more difficult it is for blood to get through. Eventually the blood could clot. If the clot blocks

blood flow to the heart, a person could have a heart attack; if the clot travels to the brain, the

person could have a stroke. The American Obesity Association website broadcasts a resulting

relationship between body mass index and coronary heart disease.

Aside from building up excess amounts of cholesterol in the bloodstream, obesity can

also affect a body’s ability to process insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas, which,

according to Critser, “makes sure that nutrients get into muscle cells” (134). As explained on a

Stanford University School of Medicine website, maintained by Dr. Gerald Reaven of the

General Clinical Research Center, who is a leading insulin-resistance scholar, insulin helps the

body to utilize blood sugar either as an immediate form of energy or as a source of stored energy

for later use. Critser elaborated that the glucose, or blood sugar, can also be used to repair and

grow tissue “and nourish any number of other critical bodily processes” (135). Unfortunately,

about 50 percent of insulin-resistant people (approximately 30 million of the 60 million affected

Americans) develop the condition not by genetics, but by lifestyle factors – especially obesity

(141). Although the exact relationship between insulin-resistance and obesity has not been

confirmed, speculations include complications due to frequently consuming high-energy snacks,

eating foods that contain large amounts of high fructose corn syrup, or simply the interference of

excess fatty acids with insulin’s ability to carry out its functions (135-136). Almost all people

with Type 2 diabetes are insulin-resistant and, according to the American Obesity Association

website, an incredible 90 percent of Type 2 diabetics are overweight or obese.

Type 2 diabetes is, according to the American Diabetes Association, the most common

form of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, which affects only about 5-10% of the diabetic population,

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results from the body’s inability to produce insulin, while Type 2 results from insulin resistance.

Because the body is unable to process it, glucose builds up in the blood, which deprives cells

from the energy they need. One might imagine a highway full of fuel trucks where all of the exits

are blocked, and the trucks are unable to distribute their fuel to those who need it. Furthermore,

the buildup of glucose in the blood can lead to a downward spiral of many serious complications

within the body. For example, having Type 2 diabetes increases an individual’s chances of heart

disease and stroke, kidney disease, eye complications, nerve damage, foot and skin

complications, and depression. Unfortunately for many of the millions of Americans with

diabetes, their suffering is a result of personal lifestyle choices – obesity and lack of exercise are

speculated to play a major role in insulin resistance and the eventual onset of Type 2 diabetes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website lists a host of other health effects

associated with obesity, from arthritis to gallbladder disease, and it is no secret that being

excessively overweight can lead to complications that eventually kill. However, other side

effects that may occur in the realms of emotional, mental, and social repercussions. Christine A.

Smith wrote in her article dealing with women and weight issues, “Large women are often

treated very poorly in Western society. Individuals often attribute negative characteristics with

large people… People are less likely to want to associate with large people… [and a] substantial

volume of research demonstrates that fat people are discriminated against in a variety of areas”

(78). Jenny Pryce explained that her weight has lowered her self-esteem, made her feel depressed

at times, and affected her energy and ambition. Furthermore, she has oftentimes been unable to

join her friends in certain activities, such as going on long walks, hiking, and riding amusement

park rides. For Jenny and many others, being overweight is not something that they enjoy, but

food has become an addiction, much like smoking, that is difficult to kick.

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Being a nation that enjoys instant gratification, many people attempt to fight their

difficult battle of the bulge with quick fixes, such as strenuous dieting. The Atkins diet has been

around for decades, encouraging people to severely cut down on carbohydrates and in turn eat

high amounts of protein. Such an unbalanced diet could, however, result in serious physical

consequences. For example, Dr. Sharmer shared, the body could go into a state of ketosis. Since

the Atkins diet is low in carbohydrates, the body on such a diet must frequently undergo the

strenuous and complicated process of converting fats into glucose for energy. As a result, people

may suffer hallucinations, constipation, and acetone breath during the first week. In reality, any

extreme cuts in calories or alteration of a balanced diet can have consequences. Dr. Sharmer

explained that the first week is the most difficult, often causing the dieter to be tired and

depressed as they lose weight. The vicious cycle is that feeling down and depressed can often be

a cue to eat more, since food is comforting. Therefore, the main battle with dieting is to

overcome the drive to eat. Furthermore, Dr. Sharmer stressed that any change in eating should be

gradual, rather than a major cut in calories all at once. Gradual changes help avoid overtaxing the

gallbladder or finding oneself in a “yo-yo dieting” pattern – cutting back on calories and then

returning to one’s original eating habits after reaching a weight goal or finding dieting to be too

difficult. Small cutbacks in calories are much less stressful on the body and easier to maintain,

and “dieting” implies a short-term solution, when in fact, weight loss should involve a lifestyle

change.

It seems ironic that in a country where the population of obese and overweight people

continues to grow, we outwardly appear to have an absolute obsession with losing weight and

staying in shape. In fact, Ruth Fishbeck of the St. Lawrence County Health Initiative said her

opinion is that “we don’t have a true health/diet/exercise craze in America. We have a lot of

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people looking for the quick fix – the gimmicky diets that promise amazing results or the latest

exercise machine that promises to tone and firm in 10 minutes a day or less. The perception of

Americans being health-conscious is largely media driven and completely false.” The media

create television shows such as “The Biggest Loser” and “Celebrity Fit Club,” shelling out large

cash prizes to the people who lose the most weight for the whole nation to see. Commercials

permeate the air waves, advertising revolutionary new pills, exercises, and diet programs that

will help Americans to get back in shape. However, Barbara Kantrowitz and Claudia Kalb wrote

in their Newsweek article entitled “Food News Blues” that Americans rely too much on the

media for health-related information and not enough on their actual doctors, and the messages

sent by newspapers, websites, and magazines can be misconstrued, inaccurate, and may vary

from source to source. Also, they explained, the media tend to oversimplify scientific and

medical news, just as when the public began to take the ACSM’s report to mean that they could

go about their daily activities and gain as many physical benefits as working out at the gym.

Industries in America have always tended to capitalize on wide-spread American

concerns to make some extra money, and certainly with the amount of publicity related to the

obesity epidemic, it has been no exception. In general, the economy has greatly benefited by the

high population of overweight and obese people in America, from the $133.7 billion on fast food

and $1.8 billion we spent on diet books in 2004 alone, according to Rosenwald (E8). Another

group of people who are raking in the cash as a result of obesity are doctors who must give their

overweight patients extra health care and sometimes even perform surgeries to help diminish a

patient’s size. Rosenwald reported a staggering $124.7 billion American expenditure for obesity-

related medical treatments in 2004 (E8).

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One medical treatment for obesity is actual surgery to curb eating habits and promote

weight-loss. The MedicineNet.com medical dictionary defines bariatrics – a word derived from

the roots “baros” meaning weight and “-iatrics,” meaning medical treatment – as, “The field of

medicine that offers treatment for the person who is overweight,” including many facets such as

behavior and lifestyle modification, nutrition, exercise, the prescription of appropriate

medications such as appetite suppressors, and also, surgery. The Bariatric Surgery information

website reported that 103,000 weight loss surgeries were performed in 2003. The Adirondack

Medical Center, based in Saranac Lake, NY, is a site at which these weight-loss surgeries are

performed. Their website explains that 70-80% of the people who undergo weight loss surgery

can expect to see long-term weight loss if they follow specific guidelines following the

procedure, and that the surgery can also help to reduce or eliminate the many health

complications that accompany obesity.

ObesityHelp.com is a web resource for individuals who are considering undergoing or

have already undergone a weight-loss surgery. The website explains several of the most popular

procedures, most of which involve sectioning off a part of the stomach or rerouting the digestive

system. Essentially, these surgeries “shrink” a person’s stomach and enable them to feel full

faster and longer. It is an easy solution to the calories-in calories-out equation, because people

who undergo these surgeries feel they need to take in fewer calories. Also, by eliminating use of

much of the stomach, many of these procedures promote the absorption of fewer calories from

food. Unfortunately, these surgeries do not come without cost, both in the forms of money and

risks. The Bariatric Surgery information website reported that the average cost of a surgery is

$30,000, though the Adirondack Medical Center website optimistically stated that insurance

companies are likely to cover the cost of the surgeries. Actual physical complications of the

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surgeries, according to ObesityHelp.com, could include abdominal hernias, gallstones,

nutritional deficiencies, and harming of fetuses for pregnant women who have recently had the

surgery and are rapidly losing weight.

Jenny Pryce, as she prepares to undergo gastric bypass surgery, is a bit anxious about the

risks that are involved, but is mostly excited for the outcome. Her decision to undergo the

surgery came out of a desire to look better, feel better, and fight the health effects she has

endured as a result of her weight – diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. Certainly,

weight-loss surgery is not a “quick fix” by any means, but a forceful push toward developing a

healthy lifestyle that will promote quick weight loss. Jenny realizes that after having the surgery,

she will need to commit to an intense lifestyle change, including curbing her habit of going out to

eat and forming a new habit of regularly exercising.

Truly, the costs of obesity are tremendous, whether financially, emotionally, or

physically. This epidemic is not something that it seems anyone would want to wish on their

children, but yet, the upcoming

generation is in worse danger than

we are. The American Obesity

Association states, “Approximately

30.3 percent of children (ages 6 to

11) are overweight and 15.3 percent

are obese. For adolescents (ages 12

to 19), 30.4 percent are overweight and 15.5 percent are obese.” What are our children doing that

is causing them to become so overweight? Many of the same things that their parents are doing:

eating too much of the wrong kinds of food, not exercising enough, and spending way too much

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time in front of television and computer screens. As children grow, they lose the ability to

instinctively only eat the correct number of calories needed for daily activities, so they generally

eat what is put in front of them. As Anderson and Butcher wrote in “Childhood Obesity: Trends

and Potential Causes,” “Very young children seem capable of adjusting their intake to match

their outflow, but as children grow up, they seem to lose this apparently innate ability… Their

food intake, rather than being based on energy needs, is influenced by external cues, such as the

amount of food presented.”

Meanwhile, as more and more unnecessary calories are consumed (and often the wrong

kind of calories, as soft drinks seem to be positively linked to obesity in many cases), fewer

calories are being expended. Anderson and Butcher cited less time for recess or physical

education in schools, much more time spent studying with increases in assigned homework, and

cases of both parents working outside the home resulting in more television-watching and video-

game-playing time as well as a need for more convenient (thus often unhealthy) food. The

gravity of the issue is severe.

In fact, Derrick Jackson reported in the Watertown Daily Times that children are

beginning to develop Type 2 diabetes at a frightening rate. Numbers have gone from 5.8 million

cases in 1980 to a jaw-dropping 18.2 million today, and Jackson attributes this problem to the

lifestyle children are leading. “We have created this monster,” he wrote, “by allowing trash food

marketers to prey on our children and by letting our children disappear into video screens” (A5).

To put the situation into perspective, Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona stated in 2004:

“Because of the increasing rates of obesity, unhealthy eating habits, and physical inactivity, we

may see the first generation that will be less healthy and have a shorter life expectancy than their

parents.”

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The biggest shame of the multitude of repercussions of the obesity epidemic is that it has

been caused by Americans’ personal choices. While genetics may play a certain part in a

person’s propensity to store fat or his or her drive to eat, that does not excuse that person from

choosing unhealthy foods, eating too frequently, or not getting enough exercise. When all is said

and done, the epidemic is a result of too many calories in and not enough calories out, but it is

obvious that Americans are not doing the math. Something must be done.

There are programs at the federal, regional, and local levels geared toward helping

America to make healthy choices. In 2003, for example, the National Coalition for a Healthy

America was founded, according to their website, to “work in concert with state and local

governments, non-profit organizations and institutions to develop and implement broad-based

walking and fitness initiatives that increase public awareness and participation in healthy

lifestyle programs across all social and economic groups.” They have implemented accessible

and manageable plans for corporations, communities, and schools to help the members of those

entities become or stay healthy and curb the weight crisis.

The United States Department of Agriculture traditionally established and publicized a

pyramid based on Dietary Guidelines that laid out the percentage of the type of each food group

that should be consumed in an average American’s daily diet. As of 2005, however, they

recognized that every American has different needs based on gender, age, and level of activity,

so they now have a program called MyPyramid, which will calculate an individual’s suggested

daily food group intake (Loyd). The press release revealing the new plan explained that it

highlights personalization, gradual improvement, physical activity, variety, moderation, and

proportionality. A link to MyPyramid.gov, a website that can help Americans develop an

individualized dietary program, can be found at HealthierUS.gov, which is a government site

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dedicated to providing credible information about physical fitness, nutrition, prevention from

illnesses, and making healthy choices, to the American Public.

Health officials are making efforts at a regional level, as well. For example, SUNY

College at Potsdam houses the St. Lawrence County Health Initiative for which, according to the

director, Ruth Fishbeck, “obesity has been a focus… since its inception,” which was in 1999.

She further explained, “[Obesity] was identified as one of the priority health concerns in the

county during the original needs assessment conducted in 1998. A community survey in 2003

revealed that 70% of respondents were either overweight or obese,” which corresponds with the

statistics of the national crisis. Ruth reports that the Health Initiative actively addresses obesity

through such efforts as nutrition and fitness education in schools and the workplace, walking for

fitness programs, and healthy cooking demonstrations in local grocery stores.

At a local level, obesity education and prevention programs are in place on SUNY

College at Potsdam’s campus. Bridget Bradish, the campus Health Educator, counsels five to six

students each year who are looking for ways to get their weight to a healthy level. She works

with them to put together individualized plans with incremental, manageable goals, and

encourages them to make simple changes such as giving up soda or exercising more. In fact, she

plans to put together a support group for overeaters next year, reminiscent of the national support

group, Overeaters Anonymous, which functions on a step program like that of Alcoholics

Anonymous. Bradish claims that food can indeed become both a physical and psychological

addiction. She also puts on about five nutrition programs per year in the dormitories,

emphasizing the importance of personal responsibility when it comes to preventing obesity, and

promoting nutritious eating on campus. PACES is also concerned with letting students know

about healthy eating options on campus. Dan Hayes stated, “Our challenge is [to] make the

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students aware of the issues [regarding nutrition] and have the choices available for them… We

constantly work on our marketing and promotions and try to ‘educate’ our customers on a daily

basis.” He stressed, however, that the key is that meal decisions are ultimately the consumer’s

choice. “We can’t make them eat ‘better,’” he acknowledged, “if [they] don’t want to.”

Choice truly is the key word. Genetics can make a person more likely to store fat or have

a greater drive to eat. The fast food companies might offer well-advertised unhealthy food at

attractive prices. America’s hard-working population may not have extra time to put together a

nutritious dinner, but it all boils down to the unsettling truth: individual Americans’ everyday

choices are responsible for our high rates of obesity. As Lisa Petruccelli stated, “People are not

forced to eat poorly… we choose to eat poorly. People are not forced to overindulge. People are

not forbidden to exercise.” People choose to put cheeseburgers into their mouths, to spend excess

hours in front of the television, and to avoid the gym. With each unhealthy food and each easy

way out that we choose, our waistlines expand and our medical conditions worsen. The good

news is that we can all do something about it. The bad news is that it will take effort – something

that many Americans seem to avoid at all costs.

The key to losing or maintaining weight is simply willpower – neglecting to succumb to

the external and internal forces that drive us to eat the wrong kinds of foods in the wrong

amounts while leading relatively inactive lives. There are simple, yet inherently difficult, choices

that each of us can make in our daily lives in order to get ourselves back in shape. The following

are three regular suggestions by nutrition and fitness experts, which will help an individual to get

their bodies back on the healthy track.

1. Pick the right foods and cut down on the wrong ones.

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A well-balanced diet is essential for a body to work efficiently. When asked what she

would suggest to anyone who is trying to lose weight, Lisa Petruccelli stated, “[Consume] the

food groups… [and] cut down on high processed foods.” In general, nothing that has been highly

processed has retained much nutritional value, so eating such foods will result in the buildup of

many empty (though probably tasty) calories. Remember, food fuels bodies, and bodies need to

take in the sorts of nutrients that will help them to function properly. Dr. Sharmer recommended

a diet consisting of 60% complex carbohydrates, 10-12% protein, and less than 30% or less of

the right kinds of fat in any given day. Although many fad diets focus on eating only one type of

food, such as protein or carbohydrates, taking in a variety of food from the different food groups

will make for a healthy body.

Fortunately, not all servers are acting against the consumers as we strive to make

healthy eating choices. Sally Sullivan, Dining Services associate on the SUNY College at

Potsdam campus, said that offering a wide variety of choices for the students is a high priority

for PACES, with their healthy choices including: prepackaged salads…turkey burgers,

bison burgers, low fat dressing, fat free dressings, sugar free Jell-O, low carb wraps on our deli

line, vegetarian soup choices every day, zero trans fat oil, low fat yogurts, 100% whole wheat

breads, whole wheat English muffins, plain pastas, char-grilled chicken fillets, roasted garlic

chicken, and steamed vegetables. Many of these are healthy alternatives to other less healthy

favorites, such as white bread or regular salad dressing, so making small changes to healthier

versions of our favorite foods is certainly one step in the right direction.

For those without a college meal plan, consuming a well-balanced, healthy diet is a time-

consuming endeavor. It takes time to prepare foods that are not high processed; it is always more

convenient to press a button on a vending machine or a microwave. It also takes time to shop for

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the ingredients that must go into a healthy meal. Bridget Bradish suggested shopping “around the

outside loop” in the grocery store. A good pointer to keep in mind is that many of the high

processed, unhealthy foods are at the center of the store, but the fruits, vegetables, dairy, and a

variety of other healthy, natural foods full of such nutrients as protein and fiber are located along

the outside edges. Shopping for ingredients and preparing a quality meal requires good time

management and prioritization, but scheduling less time in front of the television or behind the

desk at work, and more time preparing nutritious food, would be a step in the right direction.

The second part of the equation, other than choosing healthy foods, is to avoid unhealthy

foods. Again, willpower is the key, because unhealthy foods are available and cheaply priced

around virtually every corner. With the abundance of concession stands, snack food aisles at the

grocery store, and party platters at social gatherings, junk food is running rampant, and

sometimes it is difficult to avoid. A SUNY College at Potsdam Counseling Center publication,

“Permanent Weight Control,” addressed the issue of willpower with a slightly different twist,

saying that not willpower but self-control will help avoid unhealthy foods. “The difference is

simple,” it states. “With willpower you must resist those foods you enjoy. With self-control you

remove any temptation and external cues that lead to automatic eating.” Sometimes it may seem

impossible to eliminate environmental temptations, such as vending machines around school or

the workplace, but there are simple steps that a person can take to cut down the number of

external cues he or she encounters. The Counseling Center’s suggestions included the following:

containing and eating food in only one room, preplanning meals, eating slowly, consciously

processing the urge to eat rather than acting on it compulsively, and positively affirming one’s

ability to lose weight, though it might take time. Each person has the ability to make healthy

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eating choices, but Americans must overcome the necessity of instantaneity and commit to

making a true lifestyle change, one step at a time.

2. Cut down portion sizes.

Rolls et al of the Pennsylvania State University Department of Nutritional Sciences

proved in a 2002 study that people do indeed eat more when served larger portions. Results of an

experiment showed that adults consumed 30% more macaroni and cheese when served the

largest portion compared to the smallest, regardless of whether the experimenter or the

participant dished it up. The researchers

concluded, “the ready availability of

foods in large portions is likely to be

facilitating the over-consumption of

energy in many persons,” and they

especially highlighted the effects of

large restaurant portion size when considering the high frequency that Americans go out to eat.

Bridget Bradish’s suggestion for combating portion sizes in restaurants was to ask for a

to-go container along with the meal. That way, a person could cut the meal in half and put it

away – out of sight, out of mind – and therefore consume an appropriate amount of calories in

one sitting, while saving a portion for the next day’s meal. If the perception of value is the reason

that Americans come to expect and appreciate large portion sizes, they might find extra value in

getting two meals for the price of one!

The portion size issue applies not only to meals, but to snacking as well. With oversized

bags of potato chips and bottles of soda, people are also tempted to consume more snacks than

necessary in one sitting. Paying attention to serving sizes listed on packages can help people to

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eat an appropriate amount of a particular snack food. Furthermore, pre-sorting proper serving

sizes of snacks into bags or containers can keep snackers from losing track of how much they

have eaten.

3. Exercise!

Finally, one cannot forget the second half of the calories in – calories out equation. While

taking in the right amount of the right kind of calories is important, people also need to work off

the extra calories and keep their bodies healthy. Because the American culture has made

everything so quick and easy, it is up to individuals to find ways to get up and move. The

obvious answer is to go to the gym or go for a jog, and fitting regular intervals of intense

exercise into a weekly routine is the best way to stay in shape. However, people can also make

small choices during their daily routines that will get their muscles moving and burn some

calories. For example, walking or biking to work or school instead of taking the bus or driving,

taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and catching up with friends while taking a walk instead

of sitting in front of the television or going to dinner. Rather than play video games or watch

movies, children should get back to running around and playing outside.

In fact, school systems are generally not doing much to promote healthy exercise among

students. Cammi Clark of The Syracuse Post-Standard wrote, “Not one public school district in

Central New York meets state standards for physical education.” She went on to explain that

state standards are for children to engage in physical education three times a week for 120

minutes. With strenuous academic requirements vying for the physical education time slots, plus

the costs of physical education programs, children are not spending enough time off of their

chairs during the school day. Meanwhile, they are still practicing habitually poor American

eating habits, which are emphasized by high-fat (inexpensive) menu choices in the cafeteria line.

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With approximately 15 percent of America’s children being obese and facing serious

medical consequences, however, it seems that schools should be making physical education, or at

least nutrition education, a priority. After-school walking programs, classroom speakers or

academic units about nutrition, eliminating unhealthy vending machine snacks, or offering more

fruits and vegetables in the cafeteria, are all small choices that schools can make in order to

begin saving children from the obesity epidemic. It takes a village to raise a child, and with

children being so influenced by their environments, it also takes a village to save a child from the

harms of inactivity and unhealthy diets.

Fat, though a necessary component of a healthy diet, is becoming the American enemy.

Excess amounts of it are weighing down two-thirds of America’s population, overtaking their

bodies both on the outside and on the inside, becoming a disease and an epidemic caused by an

addiction to the wrong kids of food. Unfortunately, the environment in which we live is “toxic,”

saturating our senses with messages that unhealthy foods are tasty or “not that bad” for us.

Portion sizes are enormous, and people tend to eat more when more is put in front of them.

Meanwhile, technological advances have saved us the trouble of having to exert much energy to

do anything in our daily lives, which in turn robs us of crucial exercise for our expanding bodies.

The most important thing to remember is that obesity is a preventable cause of death, and

people have control over the fuel they put into their bodies. I ask you simply to think before you

put something into your mouth. Consider whether or not you are hungry. Consider what the

ingredients will do to your insides. Consider what you will do to expend any unneeded calories..

Remember that you are acting as a role model for our younger generations, and that if we begin

making a conscious effort to change our lifestyles, perhaps our children will outlive us after all,

and America can go from the fattest country on the planet to the fittest.

Lee 37

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