August 7, 2001
Kamloops Daily News


If you think that the baby boomers are going to place a
strain on our cash starved health care system, wait until 
you to see what problem the next generation brings.

The weight of children is increasing at an alarming rate and
they are going to start seeking extended health care at a 
younger age.  The problem represents a time bomb for our 
health care system.

Obesity is going to prematurely kill and maim kids in a
number ways:  increased diabetes, strokes, breast cancer,
uterine cancer, asthma, arthritis, back problems, high blood
pressure, thyroid disorders, high blood cholesterol, and
atherosclerosis.

Doctor Martin Collis from Victoria has a solution -- tax
foods that are contributing to the problem.  Fat taxes are
collected in the United States where more than a dozen
States collect a few cents on the sale of each soft drink
and bag of snacks.  That few cents multiplies to over $1
billion (US) a year.

There is a reluctance on the part of governments to spend
this money advertising healthy eating but the fast food
industry is not hesitant.  They know how to advertise and
would like to "educate" children in schools about the
benefits of sweet, salty, fatty foods.  McDonald's spends
$1.1 billion on marketing in the U.S. and Coca-Cola spends
$866 million. 

Compare that with the mere $1 million that National Cancer
Institute spends each year to encourage Americans to eat
healthy to reduce the risk of cancer.  The sad fact is that
there isn't as much money to be made promoting fruit and
vegetables.

It's not just the consumption of fast foods that's the
problem,  it's the size of the portions.  Movie theatres
sell bucket-sized popcorn and litre-sized soft drinks.  Fast
food restaurants encourage customers to "super size" their
orders and indulge in an orgy of empty calories for only 49
cents more.

The result is that we have super size kids  says Dr. Collis.  
It's a problem that's getting worse.  Since 1981 obesity in
Canadian boys has increased from 5 to 14 per cent and the figures
are  almost as bad for girls.  Girls get the message from the 
fashion industry that being fat is worse than death -- it's a 
living hell.   So, girls risk their health by purging their bodies
of junk food.

It's hard to find solutions to obesity when it such a
misunderstood problem.   Obese people are seen as social
outcasts just for being good consumers -- following eating
habits encouraged by the fast food industry.   No wonder
teens are confused.  On one hand they are told that thin is
sexy and desirable while the fast food industry promotes
obesity.

Solutions to obesity are also mired in politics.  Just the
idea of a fat tax has right-wingers squirming.  An editorial
in the Ottawa Citizen says "we are leery of calls for
government intervention on matters that are intrinsically
personal and private. What people eat and drink (and smoke)
is, with few exceptions, their own business."  Wrong.

As long as we have a public health care system in which
everyone pays for bad eating habits then unhealthy eating is
everyone's concern.  It's in everyone's best interests to
have a healthy society.

Programs that promote activity and fitness, like 
ParticipAction, have been starved of government funding.
 
"Health Canada itself claimed that the annual medical cost
directly attributed to inactivity is over $2 billion per
year," says Russ Kisby, volunteer president of
ParticipAction. It would take only a small fraction of that
promote health life styles and reduce health care costs.

I wonder why we eat beyond our caloric needs?  Two reasons
come to mind.

Our guts evolved to consume large amounts of food high in
fibre and low in calories.   Before agriculture, humans
spend a lot of time eating roots, berries, seeds, primitive
grains, and nuts.  We had to eat lots just to survive.  The
impulse to eat is still there even though we now consume too
many calories.

Another explanation is that consumerism is empty and
unfulfilling.  The marketplace has failed to provide what
people hunger for -- nourishment for the human spirit.  We
buy useless stuff and eat without satisfaction. The purchase
of new things provides a brief pleasure, but like eating one
potato chip, we  just want more. 

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