Healthy Hearts for Everyone - Not Just the "Athletic" Looking Young People

As a holiday gift, my wife presented me with Paul Campos's new book, "The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health" (Gotham Press. Can be found at amazon.com). And, while I cannot be sure she wasn't providing me a small hint about some excessive holiday eating, the author presents an interesting thesis that "overweight" and "obesity" (as defined by BMI tables) are not associated with poor health and premature morbidity, that losing weight does not improve health and extend life, and that we really do not know how to make fat people thin.

The author believes the increasingly popular "obesity epidemic" (at least as defined by the number of mass media stories) is overblown and basically propaganda supplied by the anti-fat establishment who include, among others, scientists (i.e., obesity researchers who would otherwise have nothing to study), medical doctors (i.e., who consult or direct diet clinics and who would otherwise lose money), pharmaceutical companies (i.e., who develop, produce, and sell diet pills and weight loss products and who would otherwise have to make "legitimate" drugs), and dieticians/fitness trainers (i.e., those who write best-selling books as "experts" and who would otherwise have no one buying their books).

Candidly, I found myself slamming the book down several times and uttering, "this is such b.s." and then I would pick it up again.

The author is a lawyer, and law professor, which should give you a pretty good hint that he is very adept at providing only the information needed to support his thesis. For instance, while he acknowledges there is a relationship between excessive weight and poor health, he then argues the research design side of things by noting that "causality" is different that "correlation," and how researchers, for example, have not been able to prove excess weight independently causes heart disease because other factors such as sedentary lifestyles, poor nutrition, smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and family history cannot be easily controlled and accounted for. Well...no kidding! I found myself screaming back at the book.

Basically this book argues from a "conspiracy theory" perspective. And several of his points are valid...we should not taunt people due to their size, we should not expect people to meet the body ideals represented in Hollywood or in fashion magazines, and we should question the motives of health "experts" who sell products which are an obvious conflict of interest.

At the same time, I have some faith in the Surgeon General, Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, etc., so I will continue to preach daily physical activity and well-balanced nutrition. The author and I agree that healthy lifestyle habits are more important for healthy hearts then an obsession with weight. I found myself glad that I read The Obesity Myth...even though it angered me at times.

Jon Poole
Secondary Section Editor               

Understanding the need for daily activity and the excitement of interactive web sites, the Commonwealth of Virginia and Walk4Life have teamed up to offer WalkSmart! Virginia, a program designed for 4th, 7th, and 9th graders.

The pedometer program is "designed to help each student build skills that empower him/her to make smarter activity choices for a healthier future. Students will log their daily steps, and virtually walk across Virginia learning about the history, geography, government, and recreation sites along the route."

Developed by Walk4Life Inc., in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Education, students receive pedometers on a loan basis similar to classroom textbooks. Physical educators across the state register their school, and receive pedometer packs and educational supplements such as lesson plans, motivational tips, and directions on logging in to the interactive website through support of funding provided by the state.

The program has targeted a goal of reaching 100,000 youngsters across the state, then with additional funding reaching even further to promote daily physical activity for all young people.

Open the Door to a Healthy Heart
Take stock of what's inside. Once a month, pull everything out and separate the better-for-you foods from the rest. Make sure you have more low-fat, high-fiber and low sugar foods than other types, and, if not, consider gradually reducing the number. Choose more low-fat and fat-free dressings, condiments, sauces and table spreads instead of full-fat ones.

Hide desserts. Stow away desserts and other indulgent foods in the crisper, so they're "out of sight, out of mind." Most of the time, healthier foods like fruits and vegetables are the ones that perish the quickest and, therefore, should be kept on the refrigerator shelf where you can see and eat them.(Americans, on average, waste about $10 a week on produce that spoils.).

Make healthy eating fun for the family by color-coding foods with stars or heart stickers. Use green for heart-healthy, and red for less healthy.

Make healthy food appealing. Keep an indulgent topping, or accompaniment, next to a healthy food to make it more appetizing. Next time you want a snack, you'll be more likely to eat something healthy if the mixed nuts are next to the low-fat yogurt, or the chocolate syrup is beside the skim milk, ready to be mixed together.

Prepare leftovers as a meal for the next day. Put the entree with the vegetables and other side items on a plate, and cover for the next day's lunch or dinner to create a do-it-yourself balanced "TV" dinner.

Prepare foods as "ready to eat" meals when you come home from grocery shopping. Cut up vegetables and fruits, and store them in containers, so they'll be ready for the next meal or when you come looking for a ready-to-eat snack.

Freeze foods in portion sizes to make healthy eating easier. Did you know that the recommended serving of cooked meat is 3 ounces, similar in size to a deck of playing cards? The standard serving size for pasta is one cup (or the size of a Walkman) and half a cup for vegetables (about the size of a tennis ball).

Freeze fruit for fun. Freeze fruits such as bananas, grapes, and orange slices to make them more fun to eat for children. Next time they want a sweet snack, offer them frozen fruit rather than ice cream.

Source: "Open the Door to Healthy Heart" campaign.