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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Let's Fight Fat Instead of Iraq, Columbian Rebels and Half the World

Tuesday August 13, 2002

We need to be more selective about picking fights. America does not have unlimited resources, however rich and powerful we consider ourselves to be. We cannot take on all enemies, so let's limit our targets. There is not enough space in this column to list all the potential villains and analyze whom we should and whom we should not attack now or in the near future.

Yet, inasmuch as the Bush Administration keeps adding countries to the "Evil Doer" list, it's important to encourage our fearless leader to be very selective. We surely have to fight the Islamic fundamentalists who want to kill all the infidels (meaning everyone who does not believe what they believe) and those who support them and other states that might want to do us harm with thermonuclear or toxic germ devices, which might mean Iraq belongs on the target list, after all. I'm not sure.

Let's think outside the proverbial box a bit, and consider enemies other than nation states that might be tempting and productive targets for our next war. Drugs have proven to be an enemy we can't beat, so let's surrender and make peace with illegal drugs by putting a stop to that disastrous war. The war against hunger is not going so well in some parts of the world, but that's still a pretty good target as wars go, so let's keep that battle going. What else? How about wars against ignorance, disease, intolerance, overpopulation, superstition, ecosystem degradation, ozone destruction, cruelty, and remaining pockets of slavery, for starters? I think these are good wars -- let's get behind and escalate such wars as these that are already underway and initiate a few new "crusades" (unfortunate term) against some of the horrific enemies noted above that have been largely ignored to date (intolerance and superstition, for instance.)

I have a really keen idea for our next enemy against which America would do well to declare and launch a really big war. Fat. Think of the need, the payoffs and the prospects of success for such a war. As wars go, I think it would do a lot of good with little collateral damage. Well, maybe a little, but hell, war is you-know-what.

Let's look at the three elements key to picking our next war, namely, the need, payoffs and prospects in relation to my proposed war on fat!

THE NEED:

Our people are grotesquely overweight and under-fit. You know the facts.
The 61 percent of over-fat Americans have a much higher rate of cardiovascular disease than the other 39 percent. More consequentially, their compromised immune systems lead to a host of other illnesses that, in turn, require additional expensive medical treatments that are becoming a hazard to the Republic.
Drastic action is called for to stimulate needed changes in destructive, worseness-based policies that hazard the nation's health and prosperity.
Food manufacturers must be led to stop stuffing convenience products with carbohydrate fillers for higher profits while claiming these things are good for people.
Schools and other institutions must be mobilized to promote active living.

THE PAYOFFS:

If we had a war on fat, obese people would not have to sue fast-food chains. It would be clear to all, even lawyers and jury members, exactly who is responsible for each citizen's health, namely, each citizen.
We would avoid a generational conflict. With a health care system consuming a sixth of the GNP and 74 million mostly overweight baby boomers waddling around enjoying AARP discounts, how long will it be before younger generations begin to insist on diet programs for the lard-burdened geezer set?

THE PROSPECTS:

It won't be easy to develop the needed awareness and attendant political support for reforming a health-insurance system that rewards lifestyle recklessness by subsidizing exercise and dietary deficiencies. While this dysfunctional system is much criticized for the millions of citizens who are left without any coverage, much more damage to the economy and to the health status of the society is due to the fact that the existing system DOES cover those who behave recklessly, without due regard to their own best interests and the society's. Prospects for changes here without a full-blown all out war on fat? Zero.
It will be a long haul to make common sense changes to the economic system without support for single-parent and dual-worker households led by positive incentives to make better food choices, particularly for the children of such households. Without a war, this is hopeless.
Who would be so heartless as to suggest the removal of the life-saving (and highly profitable) heart medications that have extended the average U.S. lifespan by two decades over the last 50 years? It's unthinkable. Unfortunately, this life extension has occurred without commensurate advances that spark motivation and ability to improve lifestyle performance capacities. Somehow, more American policy makers need to understand that it is not an evolutionary advance for hominids to be obese and still live long, heavily medicated lives. Again, only a war on fat can bring such awareness.

A case could be made that blood pressure, cholesterol and other heart-disease drugs do more harm than good, and are more consequential than McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Kentucky Fried Chicken in creating a nation of "I'm not responsible" victims like Caesar Barber, the San Francisco guy suing the fast-food kings.

In the middle of the last century, we had no obesity epidemic in large part because obese people usually had their heart attacks while in their 40's or 50's. With statins and other maintenance drugs, obese people are probably safe from attack from their own hearts until they are in their 80's, in many cases, if then! Thus, hundreds of thousands, millions of Americans come to the conclusion that they can pig out and be sloths, abuse alcohol, smoke cigarettes and ignore the promotions for healthy lifestyles with relative impunity. They don't look so good or move very well but their chances of surviving are excellent, provided they find a way to pay for and remember to take their medications.

A war on fat would change all that.

OK, maybe we don't really need another war. There are lots of problems in the world, and declaring war has been overdone, as I argued once before ("Must We Have So Many Wars?") We do need creative ways to encourage and support overweight folks and everyone else to live wellness lifestyles, however.

Be well, and always look on the bright side of life.

Domain: physical
Subdomain: nutrition

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