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The Fat of the Land

As if Americans didn’t have enough on their plates with foreclosures and rising unemployment, the obesity epidemic continues to weigh down the Land of the Free.

Child obesity is sure to pose a problem well into the future



On May 28, the New York Times reported “hints of hope,” while the Washington Post boldly declared that the “obesity epidemic might have peaked.” This cautious optimism came in the wake of data collected from 1999 to 2006 by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. As the Washington Post wrote,

The plateau follows years of excessive weight gain among American school children. For instance, in 1980, 6.5 percent of children age 6 to 11 were obese, but by 1994 that number had climbed to 11.3 percent. By 2002, the number had jumped to 16.3 percent, but it has now appeared to stabilize around 17 percent.

Still, 32 percent of American schoolchildren remained obese or overweight.

What Happened to Arkansas?

Four years ago, in 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifted to code red after studies estimated that 40 percent of Arkansas students were overweight or at risk of becoming so – a number that was linked to the state’s poverty level. “Arkansas is one of the nation’s poorest states, and low-income adults are known to have high obesity levels,” wrote USA Today, adding that the problem did not limit itself to Arkansas. “As more data comes in, I think it’s going to be this bad everywhere. I don’t think it’s isolated to Arkansas,” said Carden Johnston, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics to USA Today.

What followed was a marketing move, maybe only matched by another “inconvenient truth”: the environment. On May 3, 2006, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, headed by former president Bill Clinton, announced a deal with U.S.’ leading soft drink companies to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools. Effective as of 2009, Cadbury Schweppes PLC, Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and the American Beverage Association have signed onto the following plan:

  • Elementary schools will sell water, and 8-ounce servings of juice with no added sweeteners, along with fat-free and low-fat milk.
  • Middle schools will sell the same, but up the serving to 10-ounces.
  • In high schools, at least half of all beverages will be water. Juice and sports drinks can be sold in 12-ounce containers, along with diet soda.

A Possible Milestone?

But though the obesity index has stabilized, the optimism might just be premature. With a recession (lurking, mild or full-blown? – no one wants to be the messenger and get killed for throwing the country over the edge, risking bank run scenarios anno 1929), soaring food prices, and a growing median income gap, poor families will be more likely to be forced to buy poorer food, adding grease to the already “fat” fire. And while higher gas prices have forced Americans to fall out of love with their Hummers, McDonald’s is seeing the current crisis as a way to spice up the American love affair with their burgers.

A Big Mac a Day Keeps the Apple Away

When Coca-Cola got wind of the direction the U.S. was heading, it set sail for calmer waters. But when McDonald’s caught the drift it set out to conquer the seven seas. At a time when most other food retailers are struggling – the price of an apple is up 7.4 percent since April 2007, the price of a banana is up 20.3 percent, and all food is up 5.1 percent – McDonald’s has promised that, “its Dollar Menu would live up to its name.” This led to March 2008 reports of an 11.7 percent same-store sales increase over the preceding 13 months on the US market, while McDonald’s European sales rose 23 percent in the company’s most recently reported quarter alone.

Though this could sound like good news for the U.S. economy, this route is headed for rock bottom. “Nothing is more degrading than hunger,” said Ban Ki-Moon yesterday at the United Nations summit in Rome, addressing the effects of the current food crisis on the world’s poorest nations. Paradoxical as this may seem, the spirit of Ban Ki-Moon’s words could be applied to USA’s obesity crisis: obesity is inextricably linked to poverty, statistics show. The state of Mississippi, which at 29.5 percent had the highest rate of obese adults in 2006, lagged close to $20,000 behind the “leanest state,” Colorado (16.9 percent), in 2006 Median Household Income.

Poverty is Inextricably Linked to the U.S. Weight Problem


Just Put It On the Tab

The pressure is on for the next president, as the weight problem is bound to leave its mark on health insurance expenditures. According to August 2007 figures, 47 million people – or 15.8 percent of the total U.S. population, and 17.9 percent of the non-elderly – were uninsured in 2006. Sadly, the uninsured are likely to be the same people that keep McDonald’s numbers sizzling, and who keep states like Mississippi steady sinking on the national health charts.

Young America had better know how to swim, because it is going to take more than 10-ounce containers to keep the ship from sinking.

By Peter Dahl

One Comment, Comment or Ping

  1. Roland Vogel

    Congratulations, excellent background information which is not widely known here in Germany. I´m a bit scared that – with our habit of imitating virtually everything that comes over from “the world” – the younger generation here will sooner or later be the same.
    But then again, European parents still being a bit more oldfashioned regarding eating-habits, the fast-food mania is not that prevalent than in the US. Anyway, I like your style of writing, Roland

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