America's Weight Problem: Who's Fault Is It Anyway?

Published on: January 21, 2002

by Amy Chen

On January 15, 2002, the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) released the results of a telephone survey conducted last December. The random survey that sampled a proportional and representative number of people of different ages, gender, and geographic regions, indicated that an overwhelming 89% of Americans attribute personal responsibility for why two-thirds of Americans are currently overweight. Americans put the burden on "individuals themselves", lack of exercise, and television watching in contributing to the obesity epidemic, which widespread reports claim is responsible for the deaths of 300,000 in the U.S. annually and is estimated to cost us $100 billion each year. Quite notably, people put far less of the onus of America's overweight problem on food manufacturers (5%), restaurants (5%), and the federal government (1%).

While it is commendable that Americans realize their responsibility in making themselves healthy, they shouldn't blame themselves completely. Food manufacturers and restaurants don't always make it easy for us to make the right choices. Have you noticed that the majority of convenience foods on the shelves in popular grocery stores are high in processed fats, sugar, sodium, and preservatives, but low in fiber? Snacks, cereals, frozen meals, instant meals, so-called health bars, juices, you name it, the most popular items are loaded with junk. Are major food manufacturers racking their brains trying to come up with foods that are great tasting and great for you? Are food manufacturers investing a proportionate amount of time and money in advertising healthy foods to us? Do you think that just maybe most food manufacturers are just concerned about their bottom line, and not at the impact of their products on America's health?

Think about the impact food manufacturers of breakfast foods have on children. Childhood obesity is on the rise, and teaching children early about healthy eating habits may deter them from a lifetime of overweight and disease. And it is well known that children who eat a healthy breakfast do better in school. But if breakfast is the most important meal of the day, why do most breakfast items marketed to children, such as cereals, shakes, tarts, and bars, have so much sugar and so little fiber in them? Yes, it is our responsibility to choose the right foods for our kids, but with the plethora of junk on the shelves, it can be tough to get kids to eat the no-fun cereals that don't have cartoon characters or toys inside. And if kids are following this high sugar, low fiber eating pattern today, there's a good chance that they'll be eating like this for years to come. Remember, this is only breakfast we're talking about here. Other non-breakfast foods items marketed to kids are often full of sodium and preservatives, processed fats, and still low in fiber--hardly healthier. Likewise, it's a challenge to get kids to choose healthier foods when it seems so much more fun to eat the less nutritious stuff.

But are restaurants more conscientious about our health? Well, let's ask Ronald McDonald. Does the Happy Meal have the option of having a small salad instead of French fries? Or a kid size chicken salad instead of a burger? Although some fast food chains are adding "light" items to their menus, most fast food restaurants don't appear to be trying their best to reduce the amount of fat in their foods, perhaps by using leaner meat or providing "special sauce" on the side. Some restaurants already have nutrition information available on site, but if all restaurants provided the amount of calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, fiber, sugar, etc. in easy-to-read nutrition guides out on the table, we could know the type and amount of nutrients we were eating. Most of us do not instinctively know one "serving" of food at a restaurant could have enough calories for two meals or enough cholesterol and fat for two days. Just having the information available could go a long way in educating the public about nutrition.

So what's the federal government's role in all this? Though they have recognized the American trend toward obesity, made efforts to educate the public about nutrition and exercise, and tightened regulation on health claims, they could do more to help Americans be healthy. They could start by revamping food labels to make them easier to understand by more people. Instead of just a bunch of confusing numbers, they could use pictures to explain how big a serving is or how much sugar a serving has so the food lab els are be clear to people of all ages, education and literacy levels.

Our health is our own responsibility, and to know that most people are aware of that responsibility is a hopeful indication that people may be willing to be proactive about their health. We do need to take the initiative to eat better and exercise more. However, the people who sell us our food and tell us to buy their products also have a responsibility to create more healthy choices and give us more information about the nutrition of their products so we can make better decisions. It looks as though Americans are willing to take the task of getting in shape in their own hands. With a little help from the food industry, this weighty task of getting healthy could be lighter.

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