"Misfortunes one can endure. They come from outside; they are accidents. But to suffer for one's own faults--oh! There is the sting of life!"
- Oscar Wilde (1877-1914), Irish writer, playwright
Why is obesity such a problem in our country? For clues, you may want to take a look at the latest issue of Time magazine. Its cover story, "How We Grew So Big," by Michael D. Lemonick, acknowledges that diet and lack of exercise are culprits but suggests another factor may be at work:
"...the ultimate reason for obesity may be rooted deep within our genes. Obedient to the inexorable laws of evolution, the human race adapted over millions of years to living in a world of scarcity, where it paid to eat every good-tasting thing in sight when you could find it."
Obviously, it was very hard work for our cave-men ancestors to find their vittles, good-tasting or not. The sheer effort involved in surviving and finding their food kept them slim. Then along comes better technology in food production and we no longer have to labor all day to get our grub. You don't realize what bad news this is.
You see, we continue to lust after good-tasting things because the cave-man in us is saying, "Fat is good to eat but hard to get." The problem with this is the first part of that equation is still true, but the second is not. We no longer expend any energy getting our food, consequently, we don't stay skinny as our cave-man ancestors did. I'm not real sure how we know they were skinny, but the point is, if you're fat now, it ain't your fault. It's those cave-man genes that still lurk in each of us that do us in. You don't agree?
Enter Radley Balko of the weblog The Agitator, Marion Nestle of New York University, and Kelly Brownell of Yale University. They debate the question, "Are You Responsible for Your Own Weight?" Balko argues along the lines of personal responsibility, while Nestle and Brownell lean toward putting the blame on the food industry and government. Both sides support their premise with what I suppose are logical arguments if you happen to agree with them.
Since you may not be able to access the Time articles unless you're a subscriber, the text of Balko's, Nestle's, and Brownell's arguments can be found in this post. Not suprisingly, Mr. Balko elaborates further on both his and his opposition's viewpoints and concludes with:
"It's crazy. If you aren't responsible for what you put into your mouth, chew and swallow, what's left that you are responsible for?"
I must admit, I'm with Balko on this one. I'd love to have someone or something I could legitimately blame for my expanding waist-line: cave-man genes, McDonald's, George Bush, or my wife, but alas, I fear the only person responsible stares back at me from the mirror as I shave each morning. Ugh. The unfairness of it.
Update: More (low carb) food for thought about "Who's to Blame?" at the ABC News website.
2 comments:
Of course personal responsibility is severely lacking in our society at this time as we whirlwind through the heights of capitalism droppings, but be that as it may, much of what we ingest today is laced with trouble for our digestive systems.
High fructose corn syrup, for example, now I know why I put on weight! We can't digest it properly, it just goes to fat!
That's just one item. But it's one item used in way too many items passed off as food for children these days. Why are children chubby? Combine HFCS with the internet and video games. All those junky fake fruit treats, I shake my head and wonder how eating the real thing went out of style.
The mantra of capitalism is more first, is it good for us second, if in the count at all.
Personal responsiblity is the only way, it involves reading labels, reading studies, etc. I'm drinking a ton of grapefruit juice 100% undoctored now rather than those "healthy" fruit drinks out there. Also grape juice, fresh strawberries and blueberries. It's amazing how one can forget how good au naturel is!
I would love to blame my excess weight on fructose corn syrup,but my conscience wont let me, after all who put the corn syrup in my mouth?
Post a Comment