Be-Think [Please visit BeThink.org]

Overweight Children - Adults Face Widespread Stigma and Strain

copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

In America and the European Union Overweight Kids Face [a] Widespread Stigma. Only days ago, I contemplated this truth. As I watched a family shop, I was struck. She was young, perhaps ten years old. She was very heavy. I wondered how could one little girl carry so much weight on such a small frame.

The lass was sweet, quite petite, although clearly troubled. She had been shopping with her Mom, her grandmother, and her younger brother. From appearances, it seemed this family was in Target gathering wares for Grandmamma. They did not give the impression of being poor; nor did they look to be wealthy. They were average folks; they could have been you or me.

Calories Do Not Count. Cellular Considerations Do ©

• Written in Response to those at Daily Kos that thought the earlier post might be lost in the mania of Monday Morning.

Dear reader, you may have read one of my earlier exposés on health, habits, feelings, and fats, “WEIGHT. BALANCING FAT WITH FEELINGS, HABITS WITH HEALTH ©”. Perhaps you saw my missive on soda, “CHILDHOOD OBESITY. ADULT ON-SET DIABETES. OSTEOPOROSIS. SODA ©”. In that piece, I discussed the deleterious effects of simple sugars, caffeine, and carbonation. In many discussions, I spoke of eating and weight. I offered that body image was not the cause of many poor eating programs. These treatises might have caught your attention or not. Nevertheless, in a world where people are obsessed with topics such as these, I offer some more thoughts on the subject.

People ponder, “How many calories might I eat or burn? Will exercise bring me bliss? What is my heart rate, my blood pressure, and how are my Triglycerides? What is my HDL, [High Density lipoproteins] or LDL [Low-density lipoproteins]? Is my glucose level good?” BMI [Body Mass Index] is an important concern, or is it. I contend our weight may not be the issue. Calories are not the contribution that counts, cellular considerations do.

Childhood Obesity. Adult On-Set Diabetes. Osteoporosis. Soda ©

Former President Bill Clinton is out on the stump, speaking of soft drinks and how they adversely affect the body. He is concerned with the rise in childhood obesity, adult on-set diabetes, and osteoporosis. Mr. Clinton wants to do something to prevent these.

Mr. Clinton realizes conditions such as theses are more prevalent in today’s society because people are drinking more soda. Scientifically there is connection between our sweet sodas and our failing health. I offer much of this research at the conclusion of this treatise. However, my concern goes beyond what I believe is a superficial solution to the problem. Having been a person saturated in soda water, I think removing the culprit from our schools, may not alter the effects.

The Former President, along with the American Heart Association, negotiated an agreement with the three largest soft-drink manufacturers. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Cadbury Schweppes, will willingly stop selling fattening sodas and sugary drinks in American elementary and middle schools. The companies will no longer offer the larger sized sweet beverages in the high schools. The elder students will be able to buy diet drinks, sports beverages, and brews that are lower in calories. The President and the producers propose, if young people have less access to the high caloric carbonated beverages, they will drink less and be healthier. Possibly that is true; perhaps, it is not.