Americans Became the Fattest People in the World - Essay Example

Eight Straight ‘F’s- America’s Obesity Report Card: An Essay on the Book: Fatland: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World Your Name In examining Critser’s book eight ‘F’s emerge on America’s obesity “report card”: “Fix the farm; Flatten inflation; Fulfill a new attitude; Free the boundaries; Forbid continued growth; Fit the new sizes; Forget the impact; and thus, Fatten a nation. Such a report card depicts the failure of a nation to promote and protect the health of its people. Such a report card denotes the failure of a nation to live the tenets of its own constitution, the preamble of which states, “promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty…” Critser’s book shows clearly how the blessings of liberty have been distorted and the general welfare of “we the people” thwarted by a series of events surrounding the development of a new attitude in America which created its “fatness” and doomed it to failure in maintaining the health of its people. In 1971, a crisis began on America’s farms. The family farm was struggling to survive with prices rising and government regulations limiting what and how much could be planted and harvested. Farm foreclosures began to rival the struggles of the Great Depression. The preoccupation of the Nixon administration then governing the United States became: how to “fix the farm”. (page 8) New export and trade agreements with other nations were begun and completed and the farming industry was deregulated. Now farmers could plant surplus crops or grow surplus livestock, and within a couple of years life was improving on the farm. But inflation was still on the rise, so the next concern became: what can be done to “flatten inflation”. Americans began to protest high prices and clamor for change. With the rising prices, devaluing of the dollar, and the farmers needing more money to stay in business, the American people did not want to repeat the economic disaster of nearly fifty years before, and thus a claim to the “right” of entitlement began to emerge in the thought processes of the American people. A new attitude which had begun to gradually take shape in America after World War II was now fully born into the hearts and minds of Americans: “I want what I want when I want it.” (page 10) To “fulfill the new attitude” the “barriers” of deregulation were elimated with new trade agreements and the beginning of the deregulation of the food industry. The surplus of crops the farmers now enjoyed harvesting were put to use in creating new food technologies such as high fructose corn syrup. New trade agreements created the immediate availability of palm oil as an import, a highly saturated fat which increases the shelf-life of many foods from a few days to several months. (page 13) Both products are but two examples of rapidly-produced, highly-marketed and profusely-used food technologies during this time, which were known to be very damaging to cardiovascular health but which helped to fulfill the attitude of “I want what I want when I want it.” This tearing down of economic barriers in the food industry was accompanied by a corresponding need to “free the boundaries” in the American lifestyle in general. Now more women were breaking out of their traditional societal roles and working in jobs outside the home and had little time to plan and prepare meals for the family, thus increasing the demand for quickly and easily prepared meals and what came to be called “fast food.” (page 32) Even diet plans such as the “Atkins” diet were being created with the goal “eat what you want and still lose weight” at the forefront. (page 53) And shifts in religious attitudes and practices were also dropping boundaries when it came to food consumption, with the proliferation of tele-evangelists emphasizing the nurture of the soul, often through physical prosperity in which satisfying needs rather than caring for the body was emphasized. (page 54) With the development of cable television, the VCR, video games and the personal computer, Americans also were now freed from the boundaries of distance and the inconveniences of travel. (page 72) They need no longer leave the comfort of their homes to enjoy entertainment, do research, read a good book, mail a letter, go shopping, or communicate regularly with others. Thus with the dropping of social, cultural, religious, and technological boundaries , the complete recipe for obesity was created and in use in American homes throughout the nation. Then, when laws passed that began to “forbid continued growth of public service,” the American people were propelled into using this “recipe” of consumption on a regular basis. It began when, in a general election in California in 1979, a ballot measure known as ‘Proposition 13’ passed. (page 43) This proposition put a limit on the property taxes Californians paid for public services such as schools, libraries, and public recreational facilities, just to name a few. This then forced severe cutbacks in the budgets of schools and other public services. Other states quickly followed California’s lead, and soon the public services of the entire nation came under this budget-slashing knife. Now people needed those personal computers for their personal reading, reference and research needs because hours and staff were cut at the public libraries. The schools were eliminating food service staff and buying cheap and easy-to-prepare meals which were high in fat content for students. (pages 44, 45) Schools were also cutting back in the area of physical education, seen as one of the “expendable” areas of education in this budget-cutting frenzy. (pages 64, 65) As a result of this attitude of entitlement, a ballot proposition and its new resulting laws pushed Americans, particularly its children and youth, further into using this “recipe” for obesity on a daily basis. This “push” was given further impetus when other industries began to adjust their products and marketing to “fit the new sizes” in America. “Snacks” became a separate food industry and, with the proliferation of the microwave oven, could be easily prepared for the newly enlarged American appetite. The most obvious proponent of “new sizes” was the clothing industry which re-adjusted its sizes to fit an enlarging America as well. Now “loose fitting” and “baggy” styles were now replacing the tighter-fitting clothes. America quickly embraced these new styles and the clothing industry quickly became one of the biggest enablers of America’s growing food addiction. Addiction – it is a strong word, but an applicable one. Food, like any other substance that brings relief from discomfort (in this case, the discomfort of hunger), can be both physically and psychologically addicting. (page 12) And like all other addictive substances consumed by the body, consuming excess amounts of food, particularly foods high in sugars and fats, can destroy the human body and eventually kill it. And an essential component of the addiction to food is, as in all other addictions, in the pleasure of consumption, to “forget the impact,” especially over the long-term, of what is happening to the body. In the case of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, vascular disease of all kinds, cancers of the colon, stomach, pancreas and other organs involved in digestion have all arisen in proportion to America’s obesity epidemic. (pages 134-155) If the American people continue to live in denial of the fact that obesity is killing them, by continuing to consume “what they want when they want it” and making adjustments to accommodate their growing obesity, then the denial of all will continue to “fatten a nation.” America must first, face its continuing denial of reality. Second, it must recognize that “I want what I want when I want it,” is an attitude of consumption for self-gratification which only leads to enslavement to an addiction. America must change its attitude of entitlement to one that truly will “promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty.” Only then will the grades on its “obesity report card” move from the ‘f’s’ of failure toward passing grades into excellence in the health and welfare of all its people. Read More