Weight Loss and Diet

Forget about the bad spinach. Never mind the mosquitoes that might carry West Nile virus. Don't lose precious sleep over the danger posed by bird flu.

The disease most apt to kill us, the epidemic that most threatens to ravage our bodies and those of our children, is already among us and ballooning out of control.

It's just not getting all that much press, which is a shame, because our only hope of turning around the obesity epidemic is convincing ourselves that it's our own bad habits--eating fatty foods loaded with salt and sugar and not getting enough exercise--that will cut short our lives, not some tainted bag of greens.

But nobody likes a nag, and habits, good or bad, get to be habits because human beings resist change. So we distract ourselves with health concerns that are, relative to our real problems, not that big a deal.

E. coli in the spinach? With due sympathy for the fewer than 200 Americans so far infected, and especially for the family of the Wisconsin woman who died, you can bet your balsamic vinegar dressing that fewer than 1,000 cases will be reported by the time public attention gets focused on the next big scare. This one used to be called food poisoning. Some forms are more severe than others, causing stomach aches, diarrhea and vomiting, but the human body is designed to get over it. So should the media.

West Nile virus? Again, with due sympathy for the afflicted, we're talking about a viral infection that millions of Americans already have had, most never realizing they had it, with about 20 percent of those infected experiencing a mild fever. Less than 1 percent of those infected become seriously ill with life-threatening encephalitis or meningitis, and only a small fraction of those cases prove fatal. This doesn't mean we should stop trying to eradicate the mosquitoes that carry the virus. But getting rid of backyard bird baths? Bringing kids inside at dusk? Temporarily closing a popular public park, as was done earlier this month in suburban Norridge?

If anything, the mounting evidence on obesity and its consequences shows we ought to be shooing our kids outside, to the parks, perhaps jogging after them with some bug repellent and a sugar-free drink.

Consider these recent warnings:

American Medical Association: "Obesity is the fastest growing health problem in the United States. ... Approximately 64 percent of the adult population is either overweight or obese. These statistics herald potentially devastating health, economic and social consequences for our nation. People who are overweight or obese have a greater probability of developing high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol or other lipid disorders, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. ... Approximately 300,000 U.S. deaths a year are associated with this condition."

Institute of Medicine: "Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for pre-school children ... and it has more than tripled for children aged 6 to 11 years."

National Institutes of Health: "Nearly 21 million people in the United States--7 percent of the population--have diabetes, the most common cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in adults and a major cause of heart disease and stroke. ... The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes has risen dramatically in the last 30 years, due mostly to the upsurge in obesity."

Surgeon general of the United States: "Health problems resulting from overweight and obesity could reverse many of the health gains achieved in the U.S. in recent decades. ... The total direct and indirect costs attributed to obesity amounted to $117 billion in the year 2000."

In other words, a genuine public health crisis is upon us, one that is sickening and killing millions, one that threatens to overwhelm both public and private medical insurance programs.

There has been some good reporting on the obesity crisis, to be sure. Last year the Tribune did an engaging series on junk food that traced our love affair with the Oreo cookie. In general, however, the danger of gradually growing fat doesn't match the random menace of getting a bad bag of spinach or the bite of a mosquito with an exotic-sounding virus.

When someone tries to make fat an issue, as when Chicago Ald. Edward Burke (14th) proposed a city ban on the use of trans-fat oils by restaurants, we tend to roll our eyes and cluck that politicians need to find real work.

Fact is, when it comes to public health, we in the media too often keep our eyes on the wrong balls. Sure, we should insist on uncontaminated produce, mercury-free tuna and mosquito abatement. But if we really want to help folks live longer and healthier lives, more headlines ought to scream just two words: "Diet" and "exercise"!

John McCarron writes, teaches and consults on urban affairs.
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