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If current eating trends continue, more than 60 percent of Kansans will be considered obese by 2030. That would put us seventh in the nation, tying with Louisiana.
Today, Kansas ranks 13th in the nation for obesity. One-third of our residents’ are grossly fat. To our east, Missouri ranks 12th. To the west, Colorado comes in at the bottom, with 20 percent considered dangerously overweight.
In New York City, where six of 10 residents are overweight or obese, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has tried to curb these statistics by limiting the size of sweetened drinks sold in restaurants, movie theaters, stadiums and mobile food carts to 16 ounces.
A state trial judge blocked the plan on Monday, saying the mayor was out of bounds to regulate the size of sugary drinks.
Opponents to Bloomberg say the government should have no role in portion control, that we have enough of a “nanny state,” as it is, including blood-alcohol limits, distracting driving laws and firearm limitations.
The soft drink industry complained the laws were inconsistent. Why is a 20-ounce Coke, for instance, targeted, but not a super-sized glass of milk.
Calories are calories.
Well, no.
The Coke’s 240 calories are comprised of 100 percent sugar. The milk’s calories come from fat, naturally occurring sugar, and protein.
PERHAPS educating people about the difference of good and bad calories would help them make better decisions about their diets.
I’m reading the book “Sugar, Fat and Salt” by Michael Moss, which lambasts the food industry for loading ready-made food with unhealthy amounts of the three.
Moss says a habit of one can of regular soda a day adds an average of nearly a pound and a half in just three weeks, according to a recent study. At that rate, a person could gain 26 pounds a year. One Coke contains 8 teaspoons of sugar.
Because we are naturally wired to like sugar, and because sugar increases our appetite, it’s a constant battle not to go overboard. The average American consumes 22 teaspoons — 355 calories’ worth — of added sugar a day. The American Heart Association recommends moderately active women should get no more than 5 teaspoons a day.
I can barely get out of the house at that rate. One cup of my current cereal, Grape Nuts Fit, contains 2.4 teaspoons of sugar. Regular Grape Nuts has half that amount. Looks like the “Fit” in my cereal is false advertising.
The 5-teaspoon limit, Moss said, is half a Coke, or one Twinkie, or one and a half Fig Newtons. That fruit-flavored yogurt? Six teaspoons of added sugar.
