The government and obesity

Here's what the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has written about our expanding girth in this country:

"American society has become 'obesogenic,' characterized by environments that promote increased food intake, nonhealthful foods, and physical inactivity. Policy and environmental change initiatives that make healthy choices in nutrition and physical activity available, affordable, and easy will likely prove most effective in combating obesity."

Notice which comes first; not our choices, not our habits, not our genes, but policy and environmental changes. In other words, inviting more government bureaucrats and regulations into our restaurants, our schools, and our dining rooms and kitchens. This is not new to the current administration. You can go back into the early 90s and read things from the CDC on this fact. And it was always alarming.

If there were a model community for losing weight and being fit, I'm here and blogging about it. Lakeside, Ohio. I'm here most of the summer this year, and even if I only lost one pound a week of the weight I've picked up in my interesting travels since September 2007 [Ireland (3 lbs.), Italy (3 lbs.), Greece, Israel, and Egypt, 3 lbs.], I'd be thrilled. But this morning I weighed exactly what I weighed six weeks ago. I buy at the local farmers' market and small grocery store in town; I walk 4-6 miles a day; I ride my bicycle; if we eat out (rare) there are no "fast food" restaurants; I eat 5-6 servings a day of freshly prepared fruits and vegetables--mostly raw; I eat nuts and yogurt; my brain is engaged everyday in interesting seminars, classes, art instruction and music programs. There's not a reason in the world why I shouldn't be able to get into the size 6-8 slacks I wore two years ago. Except my age, my metabolism, and my genes. My desires, my tastes, and my lack of will power. My delicious rhubarb pies, my crackers layered with butter, peanut butter and cheddar cheese, my glass of red wine with dinner, my pancake with real syrup at the Patio Restaurant on Sunday after church.

Yes, it's all becoming clear to me. No matter what the federal, state and local governments do at the policy and environmental level to make my life easy, active and low calorie, they will still have to deal with me.

So I'm wearing size 10 this summer, the CDC be damned.

If you would prefer the CDC telling you all this instead of me, go here to hear.