Wednesday’s paper noted that Mississippi had the highest rate of obesity in the nation; Tennessee and Alabama were tied for second. Of the ten “Fattest States” nine were in the South. Tied for tenth place were North Carolina and, the lone Northern state, Michigan. The writer, Christina E. Sanchez, pointed to poverty as the root cause, but I believe the cause is lack of education. Of course, lack of education is
related to poverty, so she may well be right. Additionally, Sanchez pointed out that the average person consumes 157 pounds of sugar each year while a century ago our ancestors ate only 2 pounds. At 1,733 calories per pound of sugar we eat 268,000 calories more every year than our predecessors did. That’s equivalent to 76 pounds of body fat! And we do significantly less work; we all lucky we don’t each weight more than a ton!
Dietitians say we should eat 5 servings of fresh or unprocessed fruit and/or vegetables daily, a serving of meat or fish the size of a deck of playing cards, a cup of milk, and two or three servings of bread or cereal each day.
But, you are quick to add, fresh fruit and veggies are expensive! This morning’s paper advertised the following: a large watermelon $3.99 which could easily serve 10-12 people, that’s less than 40 cents per 20 calorie serving. Plum tomatoes at 89 cents a pound provide 4-5 servings at 20 calories each. Two boxes of Blueberries or raspberries for $4 make 8-10 servings of low calorie, delicious desert with only 15 – 20 calories.
Fresh potatoes were not advertized today; but they are not expensive and medium size baked potato has only 100 calories. Boiling it in fat will more than triple the calories; 6 small French fries contain 100 calories. Fresh beans for a family of four will cost way less than a dollar and contain only about 25 calories. What’s more is if they are not overcooked they will taste great!
Fresh cooked or raw veggies are very low in calories and high in nutritional value. I suspect we would all starve to death if we ate only fresh foods and vegetables. Did you ever see an obese vegetarian? I mean a vegetarian who acutally eats veggies, not one who avoids meat and fills up on macaroni and cheese.
Michelle Obama, to her credit, has started a program to prevent childhood obesity. I wish her all the luck in the world, but an all out “war” on obesity will make a difference only if it concentrates on education. I pray for her success.