A Brief Rant...

I'm a news junkie. I can't help myself. Steve makes fun of me because I enjoy reading newspapers, checking news out on the web and watching the news. It's like a hobby.

So, last night I was watching the local Fox station and became mildly annoyed by one of the stories. They were reporting on the move in Congress to pass legislation to regulate junk food in schools. This would include limiting vending machines, removing some food from menus and reducing the amount of transfats in the food. While I think Congress certainly has bigger fish to fry (or broil in this case), that wasn't my main frustration.

The reporter interviewed an expert who made the following statement. "One out of every three babies born in America today will contract obesity." What? Since when has obesity become a communicable disease? One can contract Tb, hepatitis C and even the common cold, but one does not contract obesity. It's not like if you sit next to a person with a BMI over 30 on an airplane your risk for gaining weight increases. If one happens to be a room surrounded by 15,000 calories of cookies, they're not going to morph into adipose if you get too close. There are no antibiotics to cure it or vaccinations to prevent it.

I think this points to the medicalization of certain problems in society, including obesity. It's not that there isn't a medical or genetic component to weight, but it's not as though we are all powerless victims of this sweeping epidemic with no way to prevent it or cure it. If we believe that, then we can abdicate personal responsibility and look for another way to treat our problems...maybe we can look for a pill or something. (Preferably a generic that our insurance will cover without a co-pay.)
In reality, we're not tied down in front of our T.V.'s and video games, force fed processed foods and locked out of the local fitness club. We live in a society that allows for freedom of choice...and some choices are better than others. Some choices taste better than others. Some choices are easier than others. But we have choices and we they are our responsibility to make.

I made some poor ones today...a few too many cookies and M&M's. I won't do that again tomorrow and I'll put a little extra into my spin class tomorrow to pay for it. However, if I've contracted obesity...why bother? Why not just sit down, flip on the news and eat another bowl of ice cream.