Now, that’s a Whopper

I love Whoppers almost as much as a Frost Top burger. Of course, McDonalds is no slouch either, and man, do I love pizza! And don’t even get me started on French fries.

One small problem I’ve noticed, however. When I eat that food at those spots, for some mysterious reason, I seem to go up a belt notch. Of course, that’s probably just the aging process. I read somewhere that as people age they tend to fill out a bit, so I’m attributing my stomach growth to natural causes that everyone faces sooner or later.

Are you buying this yet?

Now for the truth: America is fat and getting fatter. We sit and watch TV too much or play video games too much or do next to nothing too much. We are inundated with commercials that tell us to get up off the couch (so far so good) and buy a cheap pizza, a hamburger, French fries, or a shake (so far so bad). We eat too much processed food, and usually the unhealthy kind. Our children grow up in a mass-mediated world that is constantly telling them to eat what’s unhealthy. And most of us parents don’t help. Fast food is convenient. Come to think of it, most things that are bad for us are.

Now for some more truth: America is beyond fat. It is obese, and to coin a phrase as well as aggravate my old English teacher, it is getting “obesier.”

But take heart Louisianans. We are not the “obesiest” state. That honor goes to Mississippi where 34.4 percent of the folks are not just fat, they are obese. Stop and think about that for a minute. More than one third of the people are obese.

Oh, yes. Louisiana is second with an obesity rate of 33 percent. Put a less depressing way, two-thirds of us aren’t obese and maybe two or three of those are downright skinny.

But back to reality. Truth is, the problem just keeps growing and is particularly worrisome in regards to children. In the late 1970s up to the latest figures in 2006, the prevalence of obesity has increased from 5 percent to 12.4 percent for children aged 2-5. Obesity has increased in children aged 6-11 from 6.5 to 17 per cent. For teenagers, obesity has risen from 5 percent to 17.6 percent.

Approximately 72.5 million adults in this country are obese, which means they are at increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, and early death. And according to government figures, in just one year, 2006, obese persons had estimated medical cost $1,429 higher than the normal-weight person. To put it in perspective, from 1987 to 2001, diseases associated with obesity in the United States counted for more than one fourth of the increases in medical costs.

And you know that figure is even higher now. Just last year, more than 30 per cent of adults were obese in nine states compared with none in 2000.

Even though the government has created programs to fight this trend, the feds can’t do it for us. We have to recognize the problem before we can fix it. And folks, the problem is us. Unless we change the way we eat, unless we change what we eat, unless we see ourselves for what we are, time bombs waiting to explode on the medical system, we will continue to be fat and fatter. Or, to put it more bluntly, obese.

Personally, I intend to eat healthier and smarter for myself and for my kids. Boiled shrimp, not fried. Fresh vegetables, not so much canned foods. Maybe a few less beers. Just one Whopper isn’t worth the alternative.