The Saturday morning hosts, on the local radio station, were talking about childhood obesity. They rambled on about the usual “culprits”: lack of exercise and PE classes, vending machines, school lunches and fast food; until they hit on the factoid that most overweight children are undernourished.
Both hosts were mystified. The discussion intensified while they kept asking: “How can overweight kids be undernourished?” Somehow, they were unable to differentiate between having a full belly and consuming a nourishing diet.
Being overweight, or obese, is a cultural problem that isn’t limited to children. This confusion of “filling our stomachs” with whatever, as long as it is fast and convenient, is making people fat and malnourished.
Fast and convenient manufactured foods are exceeding the caloric values required to energize the body and not meeting the nutritional values that are required to sustain a healthy body. The decision to consume that bill-of-fare is making people fat and not healthy. Suggested reading: Chemcuisine, the New Standard American Diet
The cry, on one side of the debate, is: “We need a law!” so, Legislators are considering, and in some cases passing, laws that ban the use of certain food additives in an effort to protect people from themselves. Suggested reading: Are You Digging a Grave with Your Fork
The likelihood of success, from this fruitless effort, is zero.
Why?
Until people realize that they are sacrificing their health for fast and convenient, a law is meaningless; there will be another fast and convenient way to “fill the belly” that replaces the last. Suggested reading: Hand to Mouth Disease
The cry, on the other side of the debate is: “Promote the balanced diet!” so, researchers, Universities and nutritionists are bombarding the Public information and food-value advertising.
There are 3 sources to read about the balanced diet: University of Michigan, Harvard University and the United States Department of Agriculture.
The likelihood of success, from this fruitless effort, is also zero.
Why?
Until these purists accept two practical matters: first, food isn’t what it used to be and second, the modern society doesn’t provide the time to purchase, prepare and consume their recommendations, they will go heedless. Suggested reading: You Get Everything You Need From Your Food
Is There Another Choice?
Of course, compromise.
- Choose the parts of the balanced diet that you are most likely to follow
- Then follow it religiously. From there, fill the gaps in your diet with appropriate supplements
For example:
If you fall short on the RDI for green vegetables, fill that gap with a supplement like NUPRO BeneVita™ Green. It provides the equivalent of the RDI for green vegetables with other supporting nutrients.- If you fall short on the RDI for colorful vegetables and fruit, fill the gap with a supplement like NUPRO BeneVita™ Red. It provides the equivalent of the RDI for that important segment of nutrition.
- If you can’t find the time to prepare and eat breakfast, fill the gap with a supplement like NUPRO Body Designer™. It provides a quick, nutrition shake for people on the go.
For help with choosing supplements to fill the gaps in your diet, there is an essay, How to Become the Master of Your Health, for your review.
People are often surprised when they lose weight, once the nutritional thresholds have been met. Of course, there are other factors that affect weight gain; those issues can often be addressed with supplement as well. Readers are encouraged to review an essay, Why Am I Overweight?, to help them understand the different weight loss – weight gain issues.
Conclusion
The childhood obesity conundrum is simply a reflection of adult obesity. All the hand-wringing and debate is wasted time until the malnutrition dilemma is resolved. That effort begins with your choices. And, by the way, your choices will go a long way for resolving the health care crisis as well. Suggested Reading: Today’s Choices Are Tomorrows Consequences
