Stop worrying about terrorism and the state of the U.S. economy. UNC Chapel Hill dietician Suzanne Havala Hobbs writes that we have a “national nutrition disaster” on our hands and she expects the Obama administration to take heed and fix it for us. Her solutions are, predictably, more government regulation and “less industry-friendly nutrition policies.” This country needs a user-friendly “food environment,” she writes in the Raleigh News & Observer.
Substantial evidence suggests that health is determined by a range of interrelated environmental factors that can make it easier – or harder – to maintain a health-supporting lifestyle.
These factors include physical conditions such as our proximity to safe parks, sidewalks and bike paths, and the distance we travel to get to work. They also include social conditions, such as the examples set by meals served at school or the extent to which children are exposed to ads promoting junk foods.
Nutrition policies play a critical role in setting up a food environment that makes it easier for people to make choices that support health.
But as things stand today, many important nutrition policies are set up to fail. That’s because:
We have no unified, national nutrition policy. The responsibility for developing and carrying out nutrition policies is divided among federal agencies, with no single agency taking the lead
Sadly, nowhere in the column does this dietician say anything about the importance of each of us taking responsibility for what we eat and how much exercise we get. In fact, her only reference to the real culprits in obesity — you and me — is that obesity “is more complicated than too many calories and too little exercise.”
Really? Why then do I lose weight when I watch what I eat and take frequent walks or spins on the treadmill?
Face it everyone. If Americans would stop shoveling in the cheeseburgers and fries, take the stairs at work, and walk around the block instead of plopping down in front of the TV, we’d drop a lot of pounds.
We have become a nation of wimps. Make that FAT wimps. Is there nothing we take personal responsibility for anymore?
