Watch the Nation Grow FATTER!

Man, what is it with me lately and food? What am I, obsessed?

More like amazed. See, I have a job that keeps me informed as to the statistics about nutrition, diets, and good health practices. As such, I'm sort of what I figure those embedded journalists in the war must be: at the frontlines of the battle our nation is having with its own dietary concerns. I keep reading and researching all about how the nation eats and excersizes, how our kids are the tubbiest little toddlers on earth right now, and how our adult population keeps getting thicker and sicker.

It's no joke. We now have the fattest children IN THE WORLD, and we are, incredibly, getting fatter. Obesity is now being considered an "epidemic", (even though I'd love to throw that word on the pyre with my other "Most Overused Words" list), but it actually fits in this instance. And Obesity is affecting 30% of all the kids in the nation.

That means that one out of every three kids at your kid's school is fat. Too fat. Over the frickin' limit fat. And it could even be your kid. Again, I'm not trying to be mean. I'm just saying. Yeah, some people have physiological or psychological reasons for over-eating and are battling crippling disorders. That's true. And some people are just fat. And that's true, too.

When I was a boy...
(Yes. I know. I said it. And I promised my girls -- who are not fat, by the way, so that's two out of the three accounted for right there-- that I'd limit using my youth as a reference for all things holy to four times a month. But in this instance it's justified, supported, and only makes the third time this month!)...

When I was a boy, my mom cooked meals at home. Sorry, ladies. She did. Which meant we ate foods that were a little fresher a little more often at our table than research says is happening nowadays, and Mom controlled the size of our portions and how much of each item we wolfed down. And in my neighborhood, my friends and I ran around like crazy people before and after dinner, playing Army (heaven forbid! The violence! And no orange tips on the guns! How'd we survive?) and climbing trees and skinning knees and peeling out on our bikes and burning off calories. And now, for a variety of reasons, kids just don't. The majority of our children lead fairly sendentary lifestyles, rarely engaging in participatory activities (which aid in creating social bonding skills), our portion sizes are out-of-control huge, and no one regulates the intake of calories for our kids with any kind of regularity or genuine interest.

And as a result, our children are fat. Here are some stats for you. According to the AMA, Drug Use kills roughly 20,000 Americans each year, and you hear all the time about the "War on Drugs"and the Drug Epidemic; how awful drugs are. Alcohol kills nearly 100,000 Americans each year, as well. Cigarettes? Ugh, killers! Awful, nasty, dangerous, right? Ad campaigns and commercials constantly tell us about the threats of smoking, and the evil ways of the Tobacco Industry. And, truthfully, tobacco kills about 300,000 Americans each and every year. And most people will get up in arms about smoking, not to mention second-hand smoke, pollution from cigarette butts, the chemicals and poisons in the products, workplace health issues, sections in restaurants, and on and on and on!

But --

Poor Dietary Habits and Physical Inactivity account for more than 450,000 deaths every single year! That's MORE than all Tobacco, Drugs, and Alcohol deaths COMBINED!

And there's no "War On Chili Cheese Fries" that I know of! No "Fatty or Un-Fatty Sections" in restaurants. No "Second Hand McDonald's French Fry Fumes" outcry. NOTHING. But it's killing MORE of our kids than all this other crap put together. Unhealthy diet and inactivity are the leading causes of death in America, and result in debilitating physiologies and diseases that affect growing numbers of adults and put a continued strain on our medical system.

More than 100 MILLION Amercians are affected by dietary and inactivity-related health problems including High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Osteoporosis, and many others. And this does not include the additional 129 MILLION Americans who are currently clinically overweight or obese.

And you want to see the statistics in clear and undeniable terms? Click on this link to watch our Nation Grow FATTER Right Before Your Eyes.

Obesity and Overweight: Trends: U.S. Obesity Trends DNPAO CDC

After you watch that little slide show, check out my other Blog: Chew On This! at http://www.factsonfood.blogspot.com/. I'll still be right here, munching on my third bag of Hot Cheetos. But I'm washing it down with a Diet Coke, so....