Has the average American really lost their ability to think rationally?
A few weeks ago Michele Obama launched her new health and fitness initiative. "Let's Move" is a program touted by the current administration as the first ever to address the issue of fitness through a combination of physical activity and proper nutritional habits. Clearly Mrs Obama was absent from history class when they covered President Eisenhower's administration.
But that is just useless political rhetoric. The astounding issues arising from the June 23, 2010 press conference is that Mrs Obama would like the American public to throw all rational and scientific reasoning out the window. Does the current administration really believe that the American public is so limited that they would be talked into believing that the rising childhood (and adult) obesity epidemic is the result of:
1. Parents not having the time to cook for their families because "it's hard"?
2. Children being too "distracted" by video games to ride bicycles or play hopscotch and all the games that children have grown up with for generations?
3. There being such a tremendous lack of safety that large segments of the populations simply have no "safe places" for their children to play?
4. America's poor having no access to fresh foods thus being totally dependent on fast food and candy from gas station quick marts to meet their nutritional requirements. (ie food deserts)?
Mrs Obama was clearly confused regarding who she was talking to or what country she is living in but this article is calling her out on her utter bunk. There is no way that anyone of reasonable intelligence would believe that poor people (or anyone else) in the United States are becoming more and more obese due to the fact that they are poor. This makes no sense whatsoever.
Let's exercise our brains and think for a moment. We are overfed and undernourished due to the fact that the general population has simply stopped caring about their own health. Most people are too lazy to cook. They don't even know how to figure out unit pricing to recognize the fact that a value meal is incredibly expensive in comparison. Nor read product labels to recognize that what they are putting into their own bodies and the bodies of their children is garbage because it's "too much effort." It's easier to park kids in front of a TV set with video games than to take the time to teach them how to play hopscotch or any of the other childhood games that we grew up with.
Let's get back to basics:
1. Shut the boob tube and computers off and move around more. Walking is free, requires no special equipment and better for the environment and your health.
2 Eat better foods broken up into smaller, more frequent meals. Just because you can fit it all on your plate does not mean that it should all go into your mouth in one sitting.
3. For goodness sakes, stop relying on the TV and government to tell us what is good for us. Do some research, utitlize your brain power and get out there and take back control of your life and health.
It isn't any imaginary "Food Desert" that's killing us. It is complacency.
Comments
I notice when I walk into stores like target, right at the entrance there are lots of items for sale that I see advertised on TV. My opinion is that people are kind of brainwashed and go for the colorful tasty junk that they can grab and eat quickly. You are right, lazy people need to take time to do more thinking and that includes thinking ahead. Yes there are dangerous neighborhoods, but anyone can do sit ups at home. Yes some people live far from a grocery store, but even 7-11 carries fresh fruit.
My point exactly, Rene. I don't know what made me angrier: this press conference or the fact that when I questioned people about it their minds seemed to grind to a screeching halt. It was as if "it was true because they heard it on TV or because The First Lady said so, so it must be true." Part of what makes this country great is our freedom to question openly and draw conclusions for ourselves. The United States has become complacent. Combine that with all the marketing misinformation and you have the perfect storm.
From another article, she mentioned that her neighborhood had no grocery store for a decade. I question why that neighborhood has no grocery store. Was it driven out by crime or corruption? Was it driven out because everyone went to McDonalds and 7/11 instead? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
Eliminating the food desert means eliminating the unhealthy alternatives that are being chosen instead. Given a choice, people will choose what's easy. If the choice is to eat healthy or starve, people will eat healthy. Does Michele plan to eliminate the choices?
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