Michelle has decided to take on the issue of childhood obesity. Probably a much more meaningful approach to attacking the issue of sky-rocketing health-care expenses in this country. Obesity is the root cause of the epidemic of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes. It is increasingly being implicated in more and more cancers as well. With the majority of spending stemming from cardiovascular and cancer care, it makes perfect sense that by focusing on obesity, we can make the deepest long term impact on the health of this nation.
While watching the super-bowl with my teenage boys last Sunday, I was guiltily shocked by how I would crave Doritos, Budweiser, Coca-Cola and whatever other crap I was shown catchy ads for. These ads must have been created by psychologists and hypnotists who knew the inner workings of every neuron and synapse in my brain and secretly knew how to short circuit all my intellect, wisdom and will-power. I was getting a headache from my frontal cortex trying to fight the brain-stem impulse to run to the kitchen and devour every bright red and yellow colored package that I could find in the pantry.
And if the average American child is watching 4 hours of TV a day, then Mrs Obama has an uphill task ahead of her. She has the lobby of the processed food industry against her. And against her are 47 million innocent daily fast fooding eating people who will fight to defend their freedom of choice, their right to pursuit of happiness!
I wish her Godspeed.
Obesity is the prison children get stuck in as a consequence of their parent's ignorance, financial constraints in terms of not being able to buy healthy fruits and veggies, and the disdain modern women has for cooking healthy meals for her children.Unfortunately most men are not very good at this art and depend on their female counterparts for this part. This is an epidemic that cannot be beaten. Its a lost cause even before it started.
ReplyDeleteNeeraj Vij MD
Phoenix, AZ.