HEALTH: THE SUPERSIZE ME GENERATION

Is the resent obesity epidemic we now see in American due

to some mystery gene that has suddenly reared its ugly head?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say NO.

THE AMERICAN FOOD PYRAMID

 

It has always been true genetics does play a role in how your body processes food and stores fat, but it does not account for the expanding waistlines of Americans. The hard truth is, waistlines are expanding because calorie and fat intake is expanding while activity has sharply decreased. I have dubbed the past twenty years as the “Supersize Me Generation”. As we supersize our food we have to supersize our plates... supersize our clothes... supersize our cars to accomidate our supersized rears.  Every wonder why SUV's are so popular in the USA?

 

An other half-truth Americans are buying into is, "I don't have time to eat right". Is more being requied from us? As a single mother of two who as a very demanding job as an ICU nurse with long hours, I am very stressed for time. But what I realize is it is as easy to pack an apple for my snack and for my kids' snack as it is to pack a bag of chips, and cheaper.

The leading causes of childhood obesity are complacecy and denial. No one is saying you don't love and care for your child but, the number one excuse I hear from parents of overweight children is, "I don't have the time to cook".  You don't have to cook a salad. The number two excuse that frankly upsets me more that anything is, "I can't get my kids to eat fruit and veggies." To that I ask, what's in your fridge? What are you putting in your mouth?

 

I love to share this story with parents who tell me they can't get their kids to eat good foods. During one of my daughter's famed tea parties, the mom of her best friend started passing out bags of chips to the girls. My daughter jumped up in horror, quickly snatched the bags from her guest plates, and dumped the bags into the trash bin. When the generous mom asked her why did you do that my five year old proudly responded, "My mom doesn't allow junk in her house." My daughter then retrieved her colorful plate of fruit and veggies from our fridge and proudly passed it out to her guest. Her guest polished off their plates and requested seconds.