Today's Picture: I like to joke that my bike runs on whatever I ate for breakfast this morning. But Froot Loops and Fudgsicles? If you believe the processed-food industry, you're eating health food when you go "coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs." The Smart Choices campaign was yanked from the shelves a few days ago after some federal regulators noticed some of those smart choices were pretty stupid.
After my post about the freedom we Baby Boomers enjoyed in the 1950s and '60s, my twin sister, an elementary school teacher, reminded me of another sad by-product of inactivity and poor nutrition among today's children. It's worth noting that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, $147 billion in healthcare costs are related to obesity, including juvenile diabetes. Kathleen writes:
"As a teacher of first-graders I found nearly a quarter of the kids were noticeably overweight. These were the kids who would beg me to let them back in the classroom when I had them outside to play! They'd just stand around until I taught them to jump rope. I'd have to say, 'Come on, walk the track with me' – then they'd beg me to slow down. I was walking too fast. Imagine that, a woman in her 50s out-pacing a six year old! It always saddened me. I would try to engage the heaviest of my little kids, day after day, in play with me. They huffed and puffed and pleaded, 'Are we going in soon? Can I go in and get a drink? I gotta use the bathroom.'
"One day a truly obese little fellow was allowed back into the classroom to use the bathroom. When minutes passed and he didn't return, I came inside to investigate, I found him asleep – or passed out – on the bathroom floor with Pokemon cards spread out all around him. It's sad. I talked to his mom about his sluggishness, and suggested he be checked for diabetes. She commented, 'Oh yes, I know about diabetes, it runs in the family, but Dustin doesn't have it.' I wanted to say 'NOT YET!' What did the little guy eat? Cookies, snack cakes, potato chips? But it's not the kids' fault. It's the parents who allow them all the junk and fast food and keep them captive and entertained by TV and video games.
"There's a bike rack outside my school. On a sunny day you might find six bikes. So, out of 300 kids we might have six bike riders.
I remember row after row of bike racks when we were in grade school. Sometimes they were so full I couldn't find a place for my bike and then I just had to put it down beside the racks. I hated not having a good parking spot for that cool Raleigh Sport in sixth grade."
It disturbs me that kids don't run and bike as they always have in the past. Instead, too many are carted from place to place in cars and buses. And it's equally shocking that the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association ever joined hands with the processed-food industry in their "Smart Choices Program" that approved special labels for a long list of supposedly healthy foods. Their SMART CHOICE products included Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Puffs, Fudgsicles and lots of sugary-sweet breakfast deserts kids love.
With about 70 percent of the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare spending going for treatment of obesity-related illness due to inactivity and poor food choices – and incentives for good nutrition and exercise virtually impossible to find in health reform bills – I wonder if real health reform isn't a long time coming.
PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.
freewheelin
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Enjoy the ride home.
See you at pedalaround.blogspot.com
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bikecommuter