It's a culture war OK, but it's not in Iraq

We've all read, at one time or another, that "no one chooses to be obese", and I've always taken this as an article of faith because I sure as heck don't enjoy being obese. And while the good folks of Arkansas have not exactly stood up and said "I want to be obese", some of them are standing up to say they have the right to be obese if they want to!

You remember Arkansas, don't you? The state that originated the idea of weighing all the school kids and reporting their BMI on their report cards. Well, in a follow up article, it is apparent some people are taking offense at government efforts to get obesity under control. The governor is taking flack from parents, school kids objecting to the healthy school menus, and the owner of a soul food restaurant who sems to be worried about losing business, among others.

Talk about your social norms, as the governor himself points out, efforts to promote healthy eating compete directly with "all-you-can-eat buffets, cheese grits and a local ice cream flavor called Woo Pig Chewy." In fact, inspite of success with the school child program, the number of obese adults in Arkansas has actually risen since the beginning of the governor's efforts to change "dietary habits".

None of this is too remarkable coming from a state that is in the middle of the region with the highest obesity percentage in the country. But what is interesting about this article is a couple of nuggets mentioned in passing. First of all, Governor Huckabee listed "four behaviors that have been reshaped over the years by concerted government effort: littering, seatbelt use, smoking and drunken driving." Obviously behavorial change in these situations has resulted from a change in social norms, as I have often discussed in the case of smoking - social norms and their relationship to obesity remains an issue I still have to deal with in my post on the obesity pandemic.

The other interesting nugget has to do with how Governor Huckabee manages to maintain his weight loss:

• he jogs 5 miles every morning
• he no longer eats at banquets and receptions
• he carries a cooler of his own food in his car
• oh, and he doesn't drink [alcohol!]

It's an article of faith when you quit smoking that you can never have another cigarette. period. Governor's Huckabee's maintenance regimen makes it clear that the reason I have problems with picnics is that I strill try to eat at them. [BTW, I once tried to bring my own food to a picnic - it was a rather large salad - I made the mistake of putting it down in a public place, everyone thought I brought it to share and there went my low calorie picnic!] I have given up fast food [yes, in total], most all red meat, and all snack foods (except when we have a party of course). Somehow it seems really hard to think about not eating at picnics, luncheons, my own parties, etc. But realistically, that may be so.

I'll think about it over a couple of scoops of Woo Pig Chewy.

Health Experts Warn of Obesity Pandemic

The opening sessions of an international conference on obesity described the global spread of obesity as a problem bigger than global warming, a problem that threatens to overwhelm the medical systems of the world, a problem that has resulted in the number of overweight people worldwide exceeding the total number of undernourished people.

I am sorry for the absence of posts, but I have been trying to get my head around a global obesity epidemic. I mean what is that? How does it spread? Do you get it from toilet seats? unprotected sex? My neice can tend to be chunky, does she get something from me when I give her a kiss?

And I can't help but to wonder where I fit into the picture. Clearly if I died from a avian flu pandemic no one would blame me, would they? Wouldn't I just be a victim of random chance? But with an obesity epidemic it seems like I have a lot more responsibility for my condition. Why is that? What exactly is the nature of that responsibility?

We know some things about the nature of the epidemic:

The idea that obesity is the outcome of the availability of cheap food may have some substance. Consider that while obesity is now a significant factor in nations rich and poor, in developed nations the fat tend to be poor while in developing nations, it's the rich that tend toward obesity. The New York Times article addressing the robust modern American also talked about the scarcity of food 100 years ago.

And here I would like to offer an original thought, a suggestion. Is there anything to the idea that the increase in the incidence of obesity is related to the coincidental decline in smoking? It's not only the US that's restricting smoking, even the pubs in Ireland have banned smoking. And France, the most cigarette-friendly nation in the western world, is about to impose smoking restricitions. And I know for a fact that a great deal of the oral gratification of smoking can be saited with food...

One thing that the epidemic is not necessarily related to is junk food. The great hue and cry now is that it's the sugar that's causing obesity in youth. But I want to emphasize again, that I know, from personal experience, that you can be obese while eating a diet of so-called healthy food. My only point is that quantity as well as quality makes a difference, and to focus exclusively on quality misses much of the point.

But one thing that I am giving more and more emphasis to is exercise. My own immediate experience has been that exercaise, and exercise alone, has held my diet together through a month of unrestricted eating. And as I look back over my own life I see that as my exercise declined from that of an athlete in high school to a total couch potato in 45 years later, there was a definite coincident increase in my weight. So it may well be true that the idea that we have to work less physically hard than our ancestors has a significant bearing on our weight today. And as a specific example: China has joined the obesity parade, and who's getting fat in China? the city workers, not the pesants. Supports the ideas of a) plentiful affordable food, b) status symbol in a developing country 3) less physical labor...

[due to other obligations, I am publishing this article as is, in rough form, and I will complete it over the next day or so - in particular I want to address the role of social norms. In the meantime, I invite comments, statistics and references that could hep define the nature of a pandemic of obesity.]

Potholes on the Road to Reduction

Well, I thought I had this all figured out: a convenient "medical event" that scared the heck out of me, years of pre-diet preparation, and a calorie counting scheme that really seemed to work. Then along came August.

The heat wave knocked the heck out of my exercise schedule. And picnics, birthdays, parties - what can I say: I count 7 days in August when I didn't even attempt to fill in (or complete) my calorie log, and 6 days that exceeded 3500 calories, well above my target of 3100 (at which, btw, I feel comfortable). That's almost half the month with out of control eating.

No doubt about it, when I am around food, I eat it. And I can't even blame it on other people: at the various picnics etc I couldn't help but notice that everyone else seemed to eat "normal" amounts - even those few who were overweight themselves.

In spite of all that I am down 1 pound as of today compared to my proud announcement of "Down 41" on July 18th. The only thing I can think of that held it together was the walking. Except for the height of the heat wave when I only walked 11 miles for the week, I managed to get in 18 to 25 miles a week - more than enough to put me in the high activity category (per Nutrition.com.sg),with a theoretical daily maximum of 3800 calories, just enough to offset those high calorie days. Is this "the value of exercise" revisited?

One other thing that might have helped, especially in the last two weeks, is the addition to two to three fish oil capsules a day to my diet per the fish oil article in my side bar.

All in all, I am happy to see August go, and I am hopeful I can return to my regularly controlled eating - but vacation looms ominously on the horizon...