Responses to: Focus On Individual In War On Obesity Is Questioned

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Responses to: Focus On Individual In War On Obesity Is Questioned

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3622320.stm

" Greater acceptance is needed of the fact that people are unable to simply

get up one morning and start to shed the extra weight...As the main factors

contributing to the rapid rises in obesity seen in recent years are

societal, it is critical that obesity is tackled first and foremost at a

societal rather than an individual level. "

 

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Responses posted at http://www.redflagsweekly.com/letters/letters2.htm

 

 

The Following Letters Are Posted In The Order That They Were Received.

Letters Are Edited For Clarity.

 

As the article didn't explain clearly enough just how the societal area

would work, I have to say it is individual. Because the area is important,

I thought the doctors should be an important peg in the solution, but THEY

don't have the time to even begin to tackle this problem. Maybe the Brits

solution of going public does have a vital peg in the solution. Let's watch

closely.

 

- Dick Banfield

 

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When I was writing my PhD thesis, I noted with interest that the GMO foods

have not yet been thoroughly tested. So, I tried a little experiment of my

own. The top food listed for GMO was corn, so I ate corn-on-the-cob every

day to see if there was any side effects from GMO foods. I was active as

usual because at the time I had no car and did a lot of walking. I noted

after a few weeks that I began to put on weight. So I increased my exercise

by adding one hour a day, three days a week in the weight room at the

gym. I still gained weight. So I stopped eating the corn. I lost the

weigh very, very slowly, which was totally abnormal for me, given my level

of activity, vitamins and healthy lifestyle that I follow.

 

This little experiment did a lot for me; it allowed me to think beyond the

little black box that the media wants me to think in. I began to see that

perhaps people who can't lose weight, and only gain weight despite the

small amounts of foods they eat and

maintain exercise routines, may not be to blame. Perhaps we need to look at

another culprit besides what is being blamed for obesity: larger portions,

lack of control, stress eating and other reasons thatare valid for some,

but not for others. Perhaps we need to take a closer look at the possible

weight-gaining effects of GMO foods.

 

-Deborah J Greenhill

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When all we heard was " avoid fat, " we did. and we got hungry. on low fat

diets I put on more than 20 lbs, and my cholesterol readings got worse and

worse, no matter how much I exercised

 

I am 48, and for the past 4 years I have been on my own low carb diet --

eggs for breakfast, no toast, turkey or plain salad for lunch, no bread, no

croutons, and a regular meal with my family, with little or no bread, watch

my starches. No more cookies after my son got home from school, no more " no

fat " snacks after dinner. snacks are almonds, walnuts, cheese or turkey

pepperoni. no more skim milk (i.e., skim = milk is virtually pure sugar). I

have lost 50 lbs, and 5 inches off my waist. I exercise regularly. I

achieved all this only because I got frustrated with the doctors and the

mainstream medical press who believe the last thing they just heard is the

ultimate truth. My cholesterol readings are better now without drugs, than

at any time they forced statins or niacin down my throat (I got very sick

every time). So people want to believe that individual decisions don't make

a difference? We have no one to blame but ourselves. And before anyone

blames the food marketers, remember that they follow marketplace

perceptions and behaviors; businesses are not innovators, and what people

see in their families and friends is more powerful than any advertising

dollar. The marketplace is full of possibilities for choices, and

individuals buy what they want. I exercised my options, and others can too.

take charge and stop whining.

 

-Joseph Webb

 

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The problem of obesity will not be solved until individuals take personal

responsibility for their health.

 

The problem is that there is so much misinformation ‘out there’, that even

those who try are unable to figure out how to do it.

 

The problem is so simple that the truth is overlooked though it stares us

in the face.

 

Too many calories, high glycemic foods lead to insulin resistance, which

leads to our obesity epidemic.

 

-Walt Meyer

 

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It's hard for me to have an opinion on the subject of blaming the

overweight. No, wait, that's just what I've been taught (taking it on the

chin, etc.). I've been overweight since the age of 12, and was plagued

with a wide face and broad shoulders before that, so there was never a time

I wasn't made fun of for my looks and called fat. I never had a chance of

knowing, as a child, that I wasn't necessarily socially unacceptable.

 

When I saw childhood photos 25 years later, the shock was almost

overwhelming. Only then was I able to realize what the name-calling had

done to me. I wish I could say it helped me become someone else at THAT

point, but the underlying depression seemed too deep by then, though no one

knows about it but me.

 

So it seems very important to one like me to see children helped to develop

better health without blame being attached and worth assessed and found

wanting on a personal level. It's doubtful though that our society can

stop mocking the individual.

 

Oh, one other point - disappointing though it often is to doctors and

others, I'm 60 and have never had problems with my physical health.

 

-Joyce K.

 

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I lost 152 pounds...and still losing. I have a lot to say about this

topic...not that I think anyone would really like to hear my opinion...but

since you asked...I will share!

 

I do believe that the obesity epidemic is a societal problem. People have

become addicted to food and don't even know it. All my life I was blind to

what I was doing, and I did feel totally responsible for my own obesity

problem. It wasn't until I started to realize how TWISTED society really is

that I realized that my problem wasn't really about my lack of will power

or self control at all. It took a lot of dedication to myself to learn how

to overcome my obesity problem because the problem is multi-faceted. It

isn't ONE thing that a person can just change. It isn't simply about what

you eat...it is the entire society that is the problem.

 

 

It starts out with the food guide. Are we really supposed to eat 6-11

servings of grains and cereals a day? Come on...take a look at the human

diet before society decided it was going to eat what it liked...we didn't

eat any grains! And the whole fat-is-bad myth? We cut fat from our diet,

we get hungry more often, lack the essentials in our diet...are miserable

and hungry and don't know why so we head to the cupboards and grab empty

calories which just keep the whole cycle going. Couple that with their

addictive components...and the constant bombardment of cues thanks to media

and advertising...and you have a really big problem that people just don't

even see the negative downward spiral effect just keeps sucking you down

under the excess weight.

 

Obesity is a societal problem that will not go away because just like

everything else...it has become a multi-million dollar industry...and those

at the top will keep people confused about the truth as long as it will

line their pockets! Industry hasn't got me anymore though...Thanks in part

to REDFLAGSDAILY...I had the opportunity to find ALTERNATIVE NEWS (which I

like to call TRUTH) and in that truth...a little voice taught me how

corrupt the world really is...about everything from medical research to our

water supply! Keep screaming truth RED FLAGS...keep screaming truth. Just

maybe you can change the world...one person at a time?

 

I know I am a whole new me...and nearly half the size I once was! I was

325, now I’m 173 and still shrinking! The battle can be won...

 

-Bobbi Wilson

 

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1. It's your body, you made it, it’s up to you to change it. (There may be

some tiny percentage of exceptions to this, but not many!)

 

2. Any societal action should not include legal coercion! NO LAWS OR

MORALITY TAXES!

 

3. Societal action should only include education about health that

individual behavior is known to affect!

 

-John Weaver

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As always, the situation is not straight forward. Most people 'move with

the mass' of society. We are surrounded by a media driven culture which

affects our thoughts and feelings, steering our understanding and attitudes

in the direction wanted by those driving the culture.

 

On one hand we've gotten very good at refining the most

profitable/economical and efficient food source - carbohydrates. There are

a number of industries which have grown around and totally depend upon that

culture.

 

On the other hand we missed the point. Our well-intentioned but naïve

efficiency is killing us.

 

Perhaps look at three indicators of the current recommended diet (mostly

carb/starch/sugar, low fat, some protein);

 

1. Scientific markers: how do our blood tests compare, how do we rank on

risk factors? What are the trends showing us about life expectancy,

degenerative diseases, general health? Are they good? Or are they pretty

poor, with cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and

the general cardiac risk factors?

 

2. Our natural state. Were we really designed to be overweight, or is that

why they call it 'overweight', because we weigh over the amount we should?

Our bodies are designed to do a wonderful job of keeping healthy, as long

as they live in the environment they are suited to. We were not designed to

live on mostly high starchy, sugary carbohydrates. We were designed to live

on a protein rich diet, supplemented with fruits, nuts and berries which

provide all the nutrients we require. We've totally upset the balance of

natural nutrition.

 

3. Our self-perception and emotional quality of life. How good do we really

feel about ourselves, and more importantly, others, and the world we live

in? Do we feel full of energy, optimism, balance, contentment? Or do we

feel bad about being overweight, stressed at trying to get and stay

healthy, tired and overworked?

 

Compare that to the low-carb diet, which has a growing body of well founded

medical studies and many real-life examples of success. Blood profiles

improve across the board. Our bodies become more efficient, resilient and

last longer. We feel and look good.

 

 

Sure, we made a mistake with the whole carbohydrate/low-fat thing. But

we've learned that now. Let’s start to re-educate people, so they want to

change. Let’s start telling people about the right things to eat.

Agriculture will need to adapt.

 

We follow government advice, because we trust the government, the

scientists, the leaders. Those very leaders, who by obligation have a

responsibility to do what's right for the people and the country, now need

to change and improve their advice, and start to push that advice out into

society, where people will still 'move with the mass', but in the right

direction.

 

Sure, taking responsibility for ourselves is a very important part of that.

But it starts from where we get our reference, from the people who create

the recommendations and standards. The scientific community, and the

government.

 

Long term it will save millions of lives, save trillions of dollars,

improve the life quality of most of the population. Society will benefit,

people will benefit. Business will adapt.

 

- Paul Coughlin.

 

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On the matter of obesity, I believe there is a definite societal factor

involved, but probably not what is usually considered.

 

The real reason that I, along with millions of others are overweight, is

that our food supply is poisoned with trans-fats, excess sugars, and

nutrient free calories, and genetically modiifed foodstocks. Our FDA has

allowed that to happen. That's the physical reason.

 

Here comes the societal part:

 

When I was a child right after WW2, television was just coming into the

homes, and advertisers had everyone convinced that only white products were

pure and safe to use for a woman's family. If she didn't cook in pure

white Crisco, she must not love her family. If she baked, she had better

use pure white Pillsbury flour. Our clothes had to be made sparkling white

by soaking them in chlorine, and the list goes on. Society was

indoctrinated into the mindset that white = purity, and all food products

had to be refined, taking most of the nutrients out. That was the origin

of the first societal factor. It was if society was psychologically trying

to make itself clean again, following the horrors, and " dirt " of WW2.

 

Then to make matters worse, society speeded up. We drove faster, worked

faster, and ate faster, and generally lived faster. Along came fast

foods. I remember the McDonalds sign that said " Over 1 million

served " ... now the number is higher than the US national debt. And all of

those burgers and fries were prepared in a big tub of rancid trans-fats.

 

All that high speed eating does terrible things to a person’s hormones,

causing heart disease, cancer, and obesity.

 

So, yes, society is partially to blame, because it needed to clean up after

the war, and immerse itself in progress, and the technology was there to do

it.

 

 

 

-Rev. William G. Peters, Ph.D

 

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Tackling obesity primarily as a societal, rather than an individual

problem, is wrong.

 

 

I have been teaching and speaking on Natural Health for 18 years. Society

as a whole does not make people ill, over-weight, obese or diseased. We as

individuals have that

responsibility and choice. If you have 50 people that are rated obese. You

can count on every one of the 50 being there because of their individual

processes, their own personal problems, issues. If a person becomes obese

we must look into the individual’s life to determine his or her unresolved

issues

 

We must look at the CAUSE and not the EFFECT. We must take personal

responsibility for our thoughts, words, and deeds.

 

-Patricia Ann Hellinger

 

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I feel the obesity epidemic is helped by the failure of our government to

regulate the food

industry. The FDA could, for example, introduce food labeling with a

glycemic index (GI)

 

Unfortunately, huge companies rule. But proper labeling might get companies

to make healthier products.

 

-Ginny Hothersall

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Obesity has to be addressed at BOTH a personal AND societal levels.

 

-Aileen Burford-Mason, PhD

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Granted that the effect is societal - or macro, it is the individual - or

micro - who opens his/her mouth to swallow foods that are less than

basically healthy and is too busy (or whatever) to exercise.

 

However, it is the individual who allows himself to be suckered by

advertising directed to the consumer that does not give the consumer the

kind of information needed to make rational choices. The fact that good

nutritional information is relatively hard to come by is a societal problem

-- heaven help us if we expect our governmental agencies at this time to be

committed to providing fair, honest information.

 

It also is an organizational problem. Where is the demand within

government for certain agencies to function in a professional rather than

political culture. I don't expect total truth from all agencies, but it

would be nice to be able to expect best-available, striving-for-truth and

accuracy in some agencies.

 

I wish I had faith that the FDA does/will provide primarily objective,

science-based information based on consumer need rather than on the wants

of pharmaceutical and other major forces.

 

If only my elected officials....

 

Perhaps what we need on a societal level is some education about how

advertising works and how consumers or influenced by it.

 

-Gordon Kutler

 

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I am concerned that our food supply itself is a major contributor to

obesity. Are growth hormones given to cattle given back to us in their meat

and milk? Is this a contributing factor to American obesity?

 

-Kristen

 

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I say that it is an individual thing. You cannot make a group of people

lose weight, there are too many different factors happening. Whatever diet

they are proposing will not work for everyone!

 

-Joyce

 

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Seems like a silly question to ask - " Where is the best place to confront

obesity and the problems associated with it - at the societal level or at

the individual level? " Undeniably, both issues, and more besides, need to

be addressed, but we seem to have developed this idea that if we can just

figure out which came first the chicken or the egg and then we can fix

everything quickly and easily.

 

-Brent Perry D.C.

 

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The article on obesity makes some good points but misses the basic reason

for our fat society. Obesity is directly related to the advent of

processed industrial foods. Food containing high levels of refined wheat

flour, vegetable fats (especially those w/trans fats) and high fructose

sweeteners (corn syrup) have changed the palate and the waistline of

Western Civilization. Add to this a world where water is rarely the drink

of choice and fizzy sugar water the norm and you can account for nearly

every extra calorie that makes up the fat around so many waistlines. Any

society that continues to consume such industrial food stuffs as a large

part of its diet will become obese. The total increase in calories (above

maintenance of normal weight) since early 1900s is found in the increased

use of vegetable oil, sweeteners and refined wheat. The more sudden rise

in obesity and syndrome X in the last 30 years can be directly linked to

the rise in processed and fast foods. The answer is simple. Eat as our

pre-agriculture ancestors did; flesh, vegetables, fruit and tree

nuts. Leave the grains, legumes, dairy and industrial oils for those

without the sense or will power to avoid them for what they are, slow

killers and robbers of optimal health.

 

-E. Frazer

 

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Obesity is largely a societal problem because misinformation from

government agencies, big food company lobbyists, medical associations,

nonprofit organizations (like the American Heart Association) and of course

the media created and is sustaining this worldwide epidemic of obesity,

diabetes and heart disease. The above culprits -resembling a military

industrial complex -strongly endorsed and officially recommended plastic

fats like margarine and vegetable shortening while condemning nutrient

dense natural fats like lard, butter and coconut. As a result, we are

sicker and fatter. Trans-fats in margarine and shortening inhibit red blood

cells from effectively carrying insulin - this in people who are eating 160

pounds of sugar per person a year. Now doesn't our high sugar high

carbohydrate diet require a lot of insulin? At this stage, then, we have

the medical people who " manage " diabetes and heart disease. The food

companies won't give up their profits and the medical people won't give up

their patients. Hence, the misinformation and lies are generated to keep

people confused and literally stupid. Society is corrupt and people are

corpulent and they go hand in hand.

 

-Al Watson

 

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The reasons for the obesity epidemic are complex and no one answer can be

derived to solve the problem. We have generated a society that no longer

moves their arms or legs enough to use up the energy taken in on a daily

basis. In the United States we are so afraid of sexual deviants that we

don't even let our children walk to where they can catch the bus. As a

former school board member I understand the pressure to remove physical

education from the daily course work and replace it with a more academic

class. In our effort to reduce heart disease throughout the past twenty

years we have removed from the diet breakfast foods that could suppress

appetite such as eggs and bacon and replaced them with carbohydrate cereals.

 

We did not get this fat all at once. We may need to find solutions in the

same manner. Concerned parents that are driving their children should

perhaps walk with them to another area where another parent escorts them

for a distance. With current energy issues in the world a national pride

could be generated by everyone doing their part, much like the effort

needed to win World War II. Making excuses for an imbalance in energy

intake versus output will only make matters worse.

 

-Matthew J Cherni, Ms, DVM

 

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Concerning the War on Obesity…Sorry, but in order for an individual to

change his eating habits it must first come from within. No one can force

anyone to change their eating habits. It's great that all the options are

out there and all the diets, etc. But in order to loose weight, the

individual must CHOOSE to loose weight. The individual is the only one who

can make the choice to eat or not to eat good and bad foods. The options

for dieting are made available via news reports, magazines, etc., and this

information helps to encourage an individual to make a choice. But a

person doesn't loose weight simply by hearing and reading these things. It

requires a decision to make a life change.

 

-Cheryl Owens

 

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Interesting subject; not a lot of time to focus on it right now; these are

just initial thoughts.

 

1. The " problem " (and the " solutions " ) to Obesity do not have to be

approached as an either/or issue; it is better to use a both/and approach.

It is not EITHER about the individual OR about the Society; it is about

BOTH the individual AND the Society.

 

2. Clearly, SOME individuals who have become obese have succeeded in

reversing their situation; however, it seems that many, probably a

majority, perhaps an overwhelming majority, have NOT been successful. In

addition, the number of obese individuals seems to be increasing rapidly.

 

3. Clearly, obesity leads to other health problems and to tremendous costs

associated with those problems. Those costs are only partially borne by the

individual; they are spread across Federal and State taxpayers ( Medicare &

Medicaid , VA , Tri-Care, CHIP, etc.); local taxpayers (charitable care by

local hospitals for the indigent obese); employers (private health plans);

co-workers (who assume higher premiums because of higher claims costs).

 

4. If Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations DON'T work, then why do

corporations spend so much money on them? Clearly, they do work. Equally

clearly, money spent to encourage consumption (including the consumption of

food) has the intended effect. Compared to the relative pittance spent on

programs to reduce consumption, the influence is one-sided.

 

5. Abstaining from pleasurable activities (like eating) is difficult.

Engaging is less-pleasurable activities (like exercise) is also difficult.

Eating & Sitting are easy.

 

6. Our " built-environment " is not conducive to movement; elevators and

escalators are everywhere more convenient than stairs; suburban housing is

not within reasonable walking distance of most amenities; TV's have remote

controls; parking is adjacent to destinations, etc.

 

Anyway, fascinating topic that goes way beyond obesity per se and into the

whole Individual/Society conundrum.

 

 

-Darrell E. Wells