Last time I wrote I said we would discuss finding your niche in your career/job in my next post. But I changed my mind. Work is far from my thoughts and I just can't make myself think about starting my new job right now. Fair? Fair.
A report published recently by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation stated that 16% of kids ages 10-17 years are obese and another 18% are overweight. You only have to walk around the mall this summer to see the uncomfortably tight t-shirts and jean shorts kids squeeze themselves into to get an in-your-face glimpse of our Western diet wreaking havoc on the health of our future generations. Did they ever really have a chance?? Why eat plain oatmeal and fruit when you can get fiber and "7 vitamins and minerals!" by eating a strawberry frosted Pop-Tart?
My husband likes Pop-Tarts and, I confess, there were many nights on call when a package of these tasty toaster pastries called my name and I listened. I figured they can't be that bad because they have fiber and real fruit (!). So I read the ingredient list and here is what I found:
ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, DEXTROSE, SOYBEAN AND PALM OIL (WITH TBHQ FOR FRESHNESS), SUGAR, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CRACKER MEAL, WHEAT STARCH, SALT, DRIED STRAWBERRIES, DRIED PEARS, DRIED APPLES, CORNSTARCH, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), MILLED CORN, CITRIC ACID, GELATIN, CARAMEL COLOR, SOY LECITHIN, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL†, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, XANTHAN GUM, MODIFIED WHEAT STARCH, COLOR ADDED, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RED #40, NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), YELLOW #6, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), TURMERIC COLOR, FOLIC ACID, BLUE #1.
I don't know about you but the words modified corn starch and xanthan gum get my salivary glands working overtime. Note the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th ingredients are some form of sugar. Our bodies are not engineered to handle mainlining simple sugars in this quantity. How many natural foods (aka real foods) contain so many different forms of glucose already broken down and speedily available? None. Even fruit has fiber and vitamins to enhance the slow release and absorption of glucose. Is it any wonder that kids, when bombarded with Spongebob characters extolling the virtues of Pop-Tarts (fiber! 7 vitamins and minerals!), are no longer satisfied with the humble whole grain?
We can't fight the food manufacturing industry as a whole. We as pediatricians have tried and have found it to be a sisyphean task and one that will take years and billions of dollars to sort out. So, here's my challenge for you. Think about what you are eating today. Really look at it. Is it a 'real' food? Or one that has been processed and shaped into something that approximates something in nature with its nutrients stripped and then replaced chemically one by one? For just one day, eat real. Taste food the way it is meant to be tasted. Forgo artificial sweeteners, microwave meals, 'fortified' white foods, and any foods that are called the same thing in any language e.g. Cheetos, Big Mac, etc. When you go to the grocery store, shop only the perimeter. Check out a local farmer's market.
If we don't start modeling a way to eat healthfully and humanely no amount of healthcare reform will save us from the catastrophic public health issue gaining steam on our watch.
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