2828 Do we need more or less government to fight fat?

Trust for America’s Health released a study in late August about obesity, linking it to poverty. They must have a good marketing arm, because this information has been out there for years, in medical studies, at ball games, at county fairs, and in direct observation at schools. If you haven’t noticed that the USAn is getting fatter by the year, you’re staying at home munching in front of the TV or computer screen. Monday I was at a local art fair that drew thousands and commented to my husband that overall, people who go to art shows are not as fat as people who attend sporting events.

“According to an August 2006 report from Trust for America's Health (TFAH), adult obesity rates continued to rise in 31 states over the past year while government policy efforts have consistently failed to provide viable solutions to the growing obesity crisis.”

But why is it government policy is creating the problem? Do we even have a policy on obesity? Or do we have a hodge-podge of programs design to prop up agricultural interests with food surpluses and school lunch and breakfast programs? Do we have a huge bureaucracy at the federal and state level designed to keep people helpless? This report acts as though no middle class or wealthy people are over weight. It assumes that poor people cannot be held accountable for their poor choices at the store. That they only buy “energy dense” foods because they can’t afford more nutritious food.

They’ll blame fast food restaurants and high prices at neighborhood mom and pop stores, and then scream bloody murder if a Wal-Mart Superstore with acres of fresh fruit and vegetables tries to build in the neighborhood, serve the community and employ the residents.

You can walk into any gas station/grocery kiosk or mom and pop store and buy milk, eggs, orange juice, bread, peanut butter, canned soups, fruits and vegetables and probably small amounts of meat and canned fish like tuna, baby food and cereal. I'm not sure you can buy dried beans, but you can probably get canned beans. But you do have to by-pass the candy, cookies, chips and dip, the soda pop and beer. Life is full of choices, even for poor people with limited incomes. You might even have to choose better food for the family over cell-phones, cable and artificial nails.

Women still make most of the food choices in the U.S. If a woman has finished high school, married the father of her children, and is out of her teens when she has her first baby, the chances are she will not be poor. Fat maybe, but not poor.

obesity
poverty
low income
nutrition