06/17/08 Obesity Obsession

Once again Time Magazine proves that it is into sensationalistic journalism. In their most recent issue the cover pictures a stout child holding an ice cream cone with claims on how to cure the "obesity epidemic". The first paragraph of their "Our Super sized Kids" article is laughable at best, implying that the settlers landing in the new world had only to sow a few seeds and they had more food than they knew what to do with, beginning America's obsession with food. Is that why most of them starved in the first winter and the few that didn't were spared that fate by the grace of the Native Americans? Granted, Americans like their food and we should all eat a more balanced diet, but "bad food" is not the "be all" of obesity; in children or adults. Some alarmists seem to be obsessing with what we eat and forgetting that what we do or don't do is just as big a factor in our waistlines. The focus for good health needs to be on overall physical fitness. So get moving America! Count miles walked instead of calories!