UPDATE: 4 August, Sugar Cut in Cereals
Remember that most of the big name cereals have been loaded with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) for years. And also consider that it is the organic brands of cold, boxed cereal that is also loaded with sugar, only they use the organic kind. Either way you look at it the sugar has to go, the HFCS has to go, and all of the cereals with any GMO grain or other ingredient - like beet sugar that now is about 100% of the market -) nneds to come out of these and any other product containing them.
3 February, 2010 Michelle Obama Kicks Off Childhood Obesity Drive
Mrs. Obama is taking on her first substantive policy role in overseeing the Obama administration programs and partnerships dealing with what is considered a national epidemic of childhood obesity.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/01/michelle-obama-kicking-off-childhood-obesity-drive-feb-9/
My hope is that Michelle addresses the role of vaccines, fluoride, environment, lack of physical education in schools, the USDA food pyramid that promotes obesity, unhealthy school lunches, artificial sweeteners proven to cause obesity, HFCS, soy formula, microwave cooking, GMO soy and canola oil disguised as " plant sterols" and not healthy saturated fat, TV ads and cold cereals, and some of Tom Vilsack's GMO buddies, and more to be concerned with. We are just a nation of starving children who are malnourished because of the focus of today's government guidelines.
Some 30+ related articles on obesity can be found here at Natural Health News
Originally posted 3/6/09
Somehow I think the lineal thinking process, or lack of any kind of meaningful thinking, is a very real issue as we address the needs for health care change and reform in the US, and of course in the world.
I also think that as long as we have this mind set those who see themselves as power brokers just might not be hitting the target, so to speak.
Try to put a few puzzle pieces together here as I give you food for thought.
First of all, look at the USDA. This is the place where dietitians get their basic education. Since most of this is funded by Big AG is it no wonder RDs end up on the short end when it comes to how this translates to a role in health care delivery. Remembering too that the ADA (American Dietetics Association) wants to control ALL nutrition education, and they support aspartame, sucralose (both known obesity promoters) and the faulty food pyramid.
Luise Light, PhD, the originator of the
first food pyramid with real food, might give you more to think about. Her opinion of grains is certainly not the same as ADA or USDA or for that matter, Big AG.
Today, you can read about a culture of bias in ADA education. If it is found in students of dietetics (dietetics is not nutrition) then you can be sure it is in the faculty and the field as well.
Bias Against Obesity Is Found Among Future DietitiansBy Carolyn Colwell Healthday Reporter
Mar 5, 2009
THURSDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) -- Just 2 percent of those training to be dietitians have positive or neutral attitudes toward people who are obese, and the rest are moderately biased against their prospective patients, a new study has found.
"Essentially, this shows that future dieticians are not immune to weight bias, and there are negative attitudes toward obese patients that may have a negative impact on the quality of care," said Rebecca Puhl, the study's lead author and the director of research and stigma initiatives at Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
Most of the almost 200 dietetic students who participated in the study had pejorative views about the attractiveness, self-control, overeating, insecurity and self-esteem of people who are obese. They also rated obese patients as being less likely than non-obese patients to comply with treatment recommendations. The findings were published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
But the students aren't alone in their beliefs and share the biases with other health-care providers, Puhl said, adding that other studies have shown that many health professionals have negative perceptions about very overweight patients. Patients have reported "very many examples of providers who really make very stereotypical comments that suggest that they are making assumptions about a patient's character, intelligence or abilities because of their weight," she said.
Other signs of professional insensitivity, Puhl said, include weighing obese patients on freight scales because scales in a doctor's office don't accommodate their weight and not having blood pressure cuffs big enough for a heavy patient.
She said that the attitudes expressed by the dietetic students in the study show a lack of appreciation for how difficult it is to lose weight and for the biological factors involved. Also, the message that obesity results from a lack of self control ignores mounting scientific evidence that it's difficult to lose weight and keep it off for a sustained period of time, she said.
"Most people, when they walk into an office, have already tried to lose weight and, more likely, they've lost weight and regained the weight," Puhl said. "I think a better understanding and appreciation of the complexities and difficulties of weight loss are needed to reduce the stigma."
The 182 students who completed the study were from 14 universities and had been enrolled in an undergraduate dietetics program for about two years. With an average age of 23, 92 percent were women, and 85 percent were white.
The researchers asked the students to respond to questions about a normal-weight male and female and an obese male and female. The people they were asked about shared the same health characteristics except for weight.
Dr. Nicholas H.E. Mezitis, an assistant professor of clinical medicine and nutrition at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, said that the findings might be misleading because of the small number of minority students and the predominance of white females among the participants. "If you get into ethnic communities, such as a black population, they all have different views," he said. In some groups, he explained, being thin might not be seen as desirable.
"We also have to bear in mind that a lot of what these students are reading in magazines and such are taking them to the other extreme," Mezitis said. "What's desirable is very thin, and … these [obese] patients are way on the other extreme."
Lona Sandon, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, added that students' mentors need to provide positive role modeling. "If mentors reflect weight bias, then students are likely to do the same," she said. "In addition, one's own attitudes about body image may influence attitudes towards other's weight."
The study recommends adding stigma reduction to the standard curriculum for dietetics programs. The Obesity Society has more on weight-related bias.
Then we have to give some attention to this announcement of the joint venture between the heart association (AHA), Nickelodeon and Bill Clinton's organization to
allegedly fight childhood obesity.
Then consider the
Healthy School Lunch Program and what actually took place over a decade ago in
Wisconsin, and you have to wonder about why all of this has been taking so long.
Then remember when the push started for the
Hepatitis B vaccine? It was pretty clearly established that no long term studies had been done with this vaccine, and it contributed to the development of diabetes and some other scary for parents kinds of issues.
Then, if you recall history, Mr. Bill awarded the developers of the Hepatitis B vaccine the
National Technology Award.
Is it guilt, is it greed, or is it that there is a real interest in change this issue for our children.
One has to ask because we haven't seen a response on aspartame even though the FDA knows it causes diabetes and obesity.
And certainly there has to be consideration of cultural concerns because in the American Indian and other ethnic and forgotten communities, nuttrition, diabetes and weight issues are major public health problems.
Now you have some real food for thought.
