I was just reading in Slate about efforts to regulate food by some, unhealthy food that is. I found this bit rather amusing...

...somehow, "the food industry" doesn't sound quite as evil as "the tobacco industry." Something about food—the fact that it keeps us alive, perhaps—makes its purveyors hard to hate. For that matter, the rationale for recent bans on smoking is the injustice of secondhand smoke, and there's no such thing as secondhand obesity.

I just had to put my two cents in....

How long does the debate about food causing obesity have to continue before we as a society wake up and admit it is not the food. Yes, people should eat well to get a balanced intake of nutrition, but the body is an amazing thing, and will adjust if it is functioning normally.

People gain weight because they don't get enough exercise. As the pounds increase, metabolism efficiency decreases. An inactive body simply does not function as well, and cannot deal with the nutrients, good or bad, that are ingested. An efficient system will use what it can from whatever is ingested and discard the rest.

Diet is harped upon because people are inherently lazy, and don't want to think about the activity side of health. I know for a fact I am lazy as hell, but I know that if I don't get off my ass, it will provide more 'cushion' for my increased inactivity.

Another thing that simply amazes me is how little is said about how much a person's level of activity affects the body's natural defenses. Anyone that knows anything about our immune system can tell you that a person's level of activity has a direct impact on how efficient one's immune system is. The basic components of the immune system are dumped into the bloodstream by the lymphatic system. The driving force behind movement within the lymphatic system is muscular activity. A person sitting behind a desk all day, and in front of the tube all evening, simply does not reach the level of activity necessary for an efficient circulatory system, part of which is made up by the lymphatic system.

We have known this for YEARS, but very little is said about it. Why? Because it is politically incorrect to tell someone else to get off their ass and do something. An overweight person will huff if anyone else dares to question how they choose to live, but this very same person will expect the same treatment in a hospital or emergency room that a fit person receives, expecting each and every medical care professional to work around their additional poundage. I would personally be embarrassed if it took six or more people to move my body when it should take no more than four.

Anyway, I followed one of the links from the article on Slate, and started reading...

"Focusing on the environment and not just on individuals is a breakthrough," said Dr. Kelly Brownell, director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders. "The committee's multilayered approach, so that nutrition is not just personal responsibility, makes it innovative. Taking on the forces as powerful as the food industry can be a real challenge."

You have got to be shitting me!! What the fuck is the world coming to?! Am I on the right planet? Since when do we NOT hold individuals responsible? This is exactly the kind of thinking that has our public school system in tatters. If we don't hold the children accountable, or their parents, they won't learn anything!! Why is this so fucking hard to understand?

Shit like this irritates me to no end....