According to a couple of articles I read in The Dallas Morning News this week, we have been approaching the problem of obesity the wrong way, especially here in the U.S. The dramatic rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes in children and adults has most recently been tied to our sedentary lifestyle. So the focus on solving the problem has been on getting more exercise. Get those kids outdoors to run and play. Get those adults to gyms for dance classes and workouts.
While exercise is important for good health, it alone will not make the extra pounds go away. And in fact, weight loss is not a significant result of exercise. Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist, cited surveys that showed that while the rate of physical activity rose in the United States between 2001 and 2009 the rate of obesity also rose.
Another interesting fact brought out in the article was the results of a 2011study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found that people who only dieted lost more weight than people who combined diet and exercise.
While that study might be accurate, I still believe in a combination of the two, at least to lose slowly over a longer period of time, and keep that weight off.
Washington Post writer, Peter Whoriskey, focused his companion piece more on the changing recommendations and fads connected to the health benefits of many foods. Which foods should we eat to avoid cancer? Is a no-fat diet good for us? What about all that cholesterol and salt?
Apparently, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines are being revised again, and the cautions about salt and saturated fat are being revised.
That reminds me of the flip-flop over caffeine and alcohol. Never? Sometimes? Often? Whoriskey quotes David B. Allison of the University of Alabama-Birmingham as saying that the problem with the reports is the way nutrition research is conducted. Studies are not long enough and comprehensive enough for accurate results and scientists too often publish their inferences, not just the facts.
Allison says we don’t know enough about nutrition beyond the fact that, “We know that you can’t live without food, and if you eat too much you get fat.”
FRIDAY FUN
Thanks to FunnyMemes.net for this one:
And now for some fun with the comics. This first one is from Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis. All of us who hate, hate, hate the automated answering systems that businesses now use can relate to Rat.
Rat is seated at a desk writing a missive that starts out polite and ends up…. Well, if you are a fan of the comic strip you know where it goes.
“To all banks, insurance companies, computer makers, cable providers and other big giganto corporations. Thank you for your beautiful commercials filled with beautiful people telling me beautiful things about your beautiful company.
“I can see from all these ads that you really want me to like you… And I want to like you. (smiley face inserted here.)
“So here’s a suggestion. Sometimes I have to call you. And when I do, instead of spending all those billions on ads…
“HAVE A LIVE NON-ROBOTIC HUMAN IN THIS COUNTRY PROMPTLY PICK UP THE @(@(&^%$#&# PHONE!!!!”
Rat has now fallen off his chair, papers all askew, and he says, “I think I blew out my nervous system.”
Pig come in holding the phone receiver. “Too bad. The hold time for our health insurer is twelve hours.”
And now this from Mallard Fillmore by Bruce Tinsley
In the first frame, Mallard is looking at a billboard. The next frame shows his trademark “I can’t believe this” expression, and he says, “I’m thinking Before and After nose job billboards only exist…
“…to make personal injury lawyer billboards seem tasteful by comparison.
Okay. Neither one of those were laugh-out-loud funny. Do you have one you can share in the comments? Or would you rather be serious and comment on the dieting issue?
I will leave you with this quote to ponder:
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