Hungrytown, USA

According to recent sensational press reports:
" More than a million children regularly go to bed hungry in the US, according to a government report that shows a startling increase in the number of families struggling to put food on the table.
President Obama, who pledged to eradicate childhood hunger, has described as "unsettling" the agriculture department survey, which says 50 million people in the US – one in six of the population – were unable to afford to buy sufficient food to stay healthy at some point last year.
The report said 6.7 million people were defined as having "very low food security" because they regularly lacked sufficient food to eat. Among them, 96% reported that the food they bought did not last until they had money to buy more. Nearly all said they could not afford to eat balanced meals".

What is unclear from these alarming reports is the question of whether these people are actually suffering from hunger or malnutrition?
Hunger is defined as: feeling the need to eat, appetite, or great desire for , a physiological need for food; the consequence of food deprivation
starve: be hungry; go without food.

On the contrary, malnutrition is defined as:
inadequate nutrition: a lack of healthy foods in the diet, or an excessive intake of unhealthy foods, leading to physical harm.

So, there seems to be a little confusion and sensationalism going on here. Gauging by the higher incidence of obesity in the impoverished minorities, it is evident that the problem is not of hunger but of malnutrition. Its not that there is a lack of quantity of food ( calories), but rather a problem with quality ( macro and micro nutrients).

Because it is possible, (even for the poorest of the poor on food stamps: getting under four dollars per day) to get 2000 calories a day at McDonald's eating exclusively off the Dollar menu. Or on a high fat, high sugar diet of highly processed food which can be cheaply obtained from the corner store. (Trying to buy fresh fruits and vegetables? Forget it.)

Of course, this calorie-dense nutrient poor food is great at preventing hunger, but it is leaving one fifth of America malnourished.

Here's my question for McDonald's and Burger King: How can give away so many calories for for a buck and still make a profit? Maybe you could teach us how to make healthy wholesome food affordable for all!

First Lady is smarter than Prez!

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.