The United States is the fattest nation in the world. Diabetes affects more than 20 million Americans, 90-95 percent of whom have Type 2 diabetes, which is preventable through healthy diet and exercise.
The most economical alternatives for a meal are usually fast food franchises which are, by anyone's standards, incredibly unhealthy. But even middle- and upper-class Americans are developing a fatter midsection.
Wealthy Americans sit in their recliners, talking about how drugs and violent video games are killing their fellow countrymen in between shoveling fried chicken between their big, round cheeks.
If left unchecked, obesity-related mortality will be the most serious preventable type of death in the country, surpassing cigarette smoking. Excess body fat isn't just something you hate to see at the beach - it's responsible for a slew of health problems including hypertension, high blood pressure, heart failure and countless others.
Don't get me wrong, if any American wishes to consume Big Macs until they explode and are willing to spend all of their own money on the health care consequences, that's their right.
However, with the cost of obesity hitting an estimated $99 billion and the consequent rising insurance costs for everybody, it is imperative to face the reality that America's No. 1 war should be against food.
While obesity is not something that can easily be overcome for many, and obese people realize their ailment, they receive relatively little scrutiny compared to smokers and drug addicts, although their habits can potentially have the same emotional and economic costs. Pundits and special interest groups alike are willing to point fingers at people whose drug of choice is pot or alcohol, all the while themselves addicted to something statistically more dangerous.
Part of the obesity problem, certainly, is class disparity. Obesity and diet-related health issues primarily affect the poor. This is an issue even in the U.S., which hordes most of the world's resources. It doesn't take a dietitian to see a $1 double-bacon cheeseburger is more economically appetizing than an $8 organic fruit salad to those making less than $30,000 a year. However, a 2005 report showed obesity is growing fastest among Americans who make more than $60,000 annually.
To be more sensible, people could follow Harvard nutritionist Dr. Walter Willett's study, the largest diet study to date, and simply cut or reduce meat and dairy - two sources of unhealthy saturated fat - from their diets.
Such a shift on a national or global level would be especially helpful in reducing the use of agriculture to feed livestock (currently its primary use) and instead for direct human consumption; an environmentally friendly decision considering the United Nations called meat production one of the top contributors to environmental pollution.
Also, try avoiding harmful ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener found in countless everyday food products. While the simple sugar glucose triggers a number of biochemical reactions to regulate appetite and use sugar for energy, the body responds to fructose more like a fat, possibly contributing to weight gain.
In 2004, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration launched anti-obesity programs, but their efforts have been ill-received by critics.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's "MyPyramid," the improvement to the 1992 pyramid that was an utter failure in curbing obesity, was criticized by the Harvard School of Public Health for being vague and still encouraging some poor diet choices. The White House Office of Management and Budget Watch, an independent watchdog organization, has accused both agencies of pandering to the food industry by focusing their efforts on caloric intake rather than the type of food eaten.
Health issues stemming from poverty will not be resolved soon. But for many, the dangerous condition of obesity is both preventable and curable before its many risks occur. This cheesecake epidemic demands more attention than senselessly demonized habits like marijuana. The closest that drug ever got to killing someone was chronic munchies - resulting in obesity.
Drew Robert Winter is an MSU English junior and a State News columnist. Reach him at winterdr@msu.edu.
