Childhood Obesity Linked to Fast Foods

The President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Dr. Neal Barnard, stated that the blame of  the increasing rate of childhood obesity seems to be linked to the increase in unhealthy foods  rather than  decreased exercise.

Dr. Barnard analyzed food availability data from 1909 to 2007 and found that during that period of time the food availability increased  from 35 to 87 lbs per person per year of oils, from 124 to 200 lbs per person per year of meat, from 4 to 33 lbs per person per year of cheese and from 1.5 to 25 lbs per person per year of frozen dairy products.

Also from 1970 to 2007 the availability of sweeteners increased from 119 to 136 lbs per  person per year.  This increase in caloric sweeteners reflects the increase in high-fructure corn syrup, which in part may be related to the sharp availability of carbonated beverages which increased by 15 gallons per person per year when comparing data from 2007 to 1980.

Lets stop and think about this  for a minute. This increase alone in sweeteners i.e. mostly high-fructose corn syrup in the last 27 years has had a dramatic impact on rather new childhood illnesses  such as  diabetes, obesity and not to mention ADHD?!

Do you think a growing child with a growing brain should be bathed in so much sugar?!

The consumption of bad fats is what is increasing so we must educate ourselves on the good fats.  Overall I believe Dr. Barnard is stating that we eat too much and so it follows that our children do the same.  To quote Dr. Barnard, “Our analysis of USDA figures shows that the big increases over the last century have been in the amount of meat, cheese, oil, and frozen desserts that people are consuming.  While people tend to blame a lack of exercise, it appears that meaty, cheesy diets are largely to blame.”

Annette Cartaxo, MD

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