Submitted by Charles Knighton
Regarding the Barbados Advocate Editorial of July 17th, Health equals wealth I offer the following observations.
Once upon a time, mothers would say:”Sit up and eat your vegetables.” Fathers would say : “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Other common utterances included: ” Go outside and play.” And, “After you finish your chores.” Families may not have been happier—and family dinners may have been daily rituals of tiny tortures (the ennui that passeth all understanding)—but neither were the words “childhood obesity” part of the vernacular.
At the risk of being politically incorrect, fat kids have always been among us, but obesity was not the plague it is today. Nor was it necessary for government to instruct families about how and what to eat. We all knew the pyramid scheme of nutrition. This isn’t nostalgia speaking, nor is there any mystery why kids are fatter these days or what is required to fix the problem. Eat less; move more; listen to your parents—if you can find them.
Hold the Nobel. Really.
Good for Michelle Obama and Mara Thompson for trying to get the word out that eating vegetables and playing are good things. I’m as willing as anyone to be cynical about such “insights”, and hated nanny statism before it was cool. Yet the message is important and somebody has to say it. But maternal advice is one thing and government-enforced nutritional mandates quite another. In the absence of willpower, should certain foods and spices be forbidden to all? Where exactly does one stop drawing that little line?
The questions of when and whether government should intervene in matters of personal taste are not harmless. As government becomes more involved in health decisions, government necessarily will become more involved in personal nutrition issues. The same strategy that created pariahs out of smokers now is being aimed at people who eat unattractively. It isn’t only that you’re hurting yourself by eating too much of the wrong foods; you’re hurting the rest of us by willfully contributing to your own poor health, and therefore to the cost of public health. Fat is the new nicotine.
Once the numbers crunchers start quantifying the cost to society by people who eat too much, or eat too much of the wrong things, ($250 million a year according to your Editorial) you can be sure that not-such-good-things are coming your way soon. Think Idi Amin in an apron.
The statistics ARE alarming to be sure, especially regarding children. The issue isn’t only about school lunches, though over-consumption of high glycemic carbohydrates has to be factored into any calculation about obesity. At least as significant, if not utterly crucial, are poverty and shattered families, which often go hand-in-hand. Also significant are the high cost of healthy food versus cheaper, fast food. Our drive-thru culture, which applies to relationships as well as mealtimes, is the real enemy of fitness and health.
Thus, it seems clear that the real solution to obesity, as it is with so many issues, isn’t more government regulation but more personal responsibility. Essentially, families will become healthier by spending more time exercising and eating together. I know, sheer genius.
Once upon a time we called this “life,” but we post-modernists apparently need a little help with the basics. Fuddyduddily speaking, more chores and fewer gadgets—and committed parents who torture their kids with rules—would probably do the trick as well. As with most problems, the solution is family.
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