Go, MeMe Roth, Go..! I Support Your Efforts..!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving with President Obama, NFL's Play 60, and Peyton Manning's OREOs


You maintain a healthy body weight by eating right and exercising daily...

So you wanna indulge a little on Turkey Day..? Go for it..!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving..!

And when President Obama shows up during the game with his "United We Serve" Child Obesity PSA with the NFL's "Play 60" Campaign, the good news will be that the issue of child obesity is getting the attention it deserves. The bad news is that the Prez is apparently going along with Big Food and Big Beverage's talking points about "exercise."

The half-trillion-dollar food industry will say anything to get the attention off of improper eating as the primary cause of America's obesity crisis. (No matter studies show exercise hasn't changed dramatically in recent decades, yet compared to the 70s, the average American today consumes 150-350 more calories per day.)

Don't get me wrong. Exercise is vital. I knock out a 4-mile run everyday, whether I feel like it or not. Fat or fit, you can't be healthy without daily exercise. America's kids need an hour a day--and those are the kids who eat properly. Add in just 2 of NFL heros Peyton and Eli Manning's Double-Stuff OREOs, and that same child now needs to run an extra mile and a half to burn-off the empty 140 calories...

Think Obama will mention that..?

Monday, November 23, 2009

Lost Your Place in Line for Swine Flu Vaccine..?


Ho Ho Ho..! Santas want to be first in line for H1N1 shots. Should you get a lump of coal if Santa wants to cut in front of you in the vaccine line...and you say "no, no no?"

The W.H.O. says those with underlying health risks should go to the front of the swine flu shot line. That includes the obese and those with type 2 diabetes.

9 times out of 10, those who are obese or develop type 2 diabetes are suffering the consequences of habitual, improper eating. Typically we're talking too much of the right food, too much of the wrong food, or a combo of both. Does that mean they deserve to cut..?

In Santa's defense, he comes in contact with gobs of kiddie germs all holiday season long. Plus, he's a prime candidate for spreading swine flu...

A couple years ago I did several news appearances when the governing body for all mall Santa Clauses (yep, there really is such an organization.), having realized the majority of Santas weren't just obese, but dangerously, morbidly obese, asked their membership to lose weight. I mentioned that America's current depiction of Santa Claus is an incredibly successful marketing device of the Coca-Cola Company. They may not have invented Santa, but Coke spent millions embedding his larger-than-life image into our minds. Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, and St. Nick historically hadn't been portrayed so pervasively portly.

I wondered if maybe it was time for a more Jack LaLanne-like Santa, what with Santa having all those heavy gifts to deliver and circumnavigating the globe in one night... Since then, I've had to read all over the place that I called Santa "fat." No kidding. Even The New York Times reported that silliness... I got dumped from a speaking gig because of it. Talk about wrongfully being put on the "naughty" list..!

So Santa's obesity and non-stop cootie contamination put him in line for the H1N1 vaccine in front of whom? You? Your Kids..? Pregnant Women..?

And what about type 2 diabetics... Do they get their swine flu shots before you too..?

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

$344 Billion by 2018. Stop the Pussyfooting...


If obesity really will cost us $344 Billion by 2018, as yesterday's stunning report says, where's our state of emergency?

Are we refusing to address obesity due to implications on the Economy? Food/Bev/Pharma would all suffer if Americans ate right. But the economics have shifted grossly when the rest of us have to pay a $344 Billion Obesity Bailout.

We're at the point where 75% of our youth are unfit for military service. It's time to stop debating a baked chip vs. fried. It's time to really do what it takes to reverse obesity...and nobody's gonna like it. But can we afford to continue letting industry decide? Big Tobacco isn't at the table determining how to curb smoking. Why are Pepsi, Coke and Kellogg's at the table when it comes to obesity policy?

We need the soda tax, we need calories on menu boards, we need School Wellness Policies enforced around the country, we need formula pushers out of the ob/gyn offices and breast-feeding perks in, we need junk food out of daycare centers, we need more obesity-related diseases classified as "elective," we need to finally stop advertising junk food to kids (debated since the Carter administration!), we need affordable and easily accessible produce, we need clean, safe and abundant public recreational facilities, we need to stop freshly minting new fat kids everyday...

And we DON'T need to give special legal protection to the obese, as they have in Michigan...and are demanding in Massachusetts. Why should employers be forced to hire expensive employees who are so predominantly by lifestyle choice? Harassment and Disability laws are already on the books. Obese is the dominant population in the U.S., followed by Overweight. So the overwhelming majority--a majority of habitual improper eaters--are now demanding special treatment from the measly minority of us who exercise daily and eat right..?

This is a crisis. Sorry the name isn't as scary as "Swine Flu," but yes, President Obama, this is a crisis we can't afford now, and certainly can't afford the price tag coming our way as the majority of us succumb to decades of obesity-induced chronic disease.

Stop pussyfooting around. We need an Obesity Czar, (I'm available). We need a member from every cabinet office with a plan on how to reverse this crisis right now. Not one single more child should become fat on your watch, Sir--OUR watch.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Candy for Lunch- mmmmm


What if I said I was gonna serve your kid 5 to 7 teaspoons of sugar for lunch..? at school?

And that's just the drink--not the sugary ketchup, sweetened applesauce, floating fruit, sticky teriyaki sauce or high-fructose-corn-syrup-laden bread...

In a tiny half-pint carton of school chocolate milk, that's exactly what kids are getting--22 to 28 grams of sugar, 130 to 170 calories. Your child will need to run an extra mile and a half during P.E. to burn-off that extra sugar. (What P.E.??)

Chocolate Milk is really candy. We all know that. And it's totally delicious. I loooove a tall, cold glass of fat-free chocolate milk. But I also know that it's an indulgence, and I'm going to have to figure out how to compensate for the empty extra calories and that diabetes-inducing sugar spike... It's certainty not something I'd want to serve my kids for lunch during the school day. (Now the OTHER kids maybe, especially bratty-mcbrat-alots, the bullies or the ones competing against my kids for coveted scholarships... THOSE kids should lap up all the sugary-sweet, artificially-flavored milk they can...)

So once again, industry thinks parents are dumber than dirt. This time it's Big Dairy-the brains behind the super-successful "Got Milk." Check out milk's food pyramid dominance if you're curious just how powerful the Dairy Industry is. No matter most people on the planet get gassy, bloated or suffer bouts of diarrhea from drinking cow's milk, Big Dairy has us convinced we'll spontaneously combust if we don't drink the stuff. Hey, it's a fat, sugar and protein--it's the perfect food! (for baby cows.) If the lactose doesn't trip us up as we age, then the casein might...

So MilkPep, the "Got Milk" folks, have enlisted the help of some B-list celebs and one-time-good-guy-R.D. Felicia Stoler of "Honey We're Killing the Kids" fame to launch a new campaign trying to convince us chocolate milk is a healthy choice for kids at school: "Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk." They have a little website full of slanted messages they're attempting to spread through "Mommy Bloggers" and a petition to sign.

In MilkPep's defense, milk has some protein. But it's also loaded with saturated animal fat. Not so good. (The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is pushing for fat-free or 1% milk at school.) And the gobs of high fructose corn syrup is just too much.

We're supposed to believe that the calcium and trace amounts of Vitamin D are supposed to be a fair trade-off for all the garbage in chocolate milk. Not so fast. First off, if you want calcium and strong bones, eat loads of leafy green veggies and do weight-bearing exercise like running and jumping--the stuff kids love to do during Recess and P.E.! As for the Vitamin D... Yeah, most of us are dangerously low in this vital bone-building, immunity-building, mood-stabilizing vitamin. Those of us living above the latitude running from Atlanta to Los Angeles can't possibly get enough UVB sun rays during the Fall through Winter for us to produce Vitamin D. But don't be fooled. The scant amount sprayed into milk is about 1/10th of what a child needs on any given day based on the most current recommendations. Check with your physician and see how much daily Vitamin D-3 supplement makes sense for you and your children.

So forget chocolate milk at school. Save the delicious concoction for special treats on the weekends or at a party. When at school? Water is your child's best choice. If you want to go with milk, make sure it's fat-free white. Would it surprise you to know that even a school-sized, half-pint carton of fat-free white milk has the equivalent of 3 teaspoons of sugar in it?? Somehow that message just doesn't come across on the food pyramid...

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Dodge the War--Get Fat


Visited the awe-inspiring, billion dollar, U.S.S. New York yesterday. Some 7.5 tons of Twin Towers steel was used in its making...

There were Amphibious Assault Vehicles, tanks, JEEPs, shoulder-rocket-launchers, all kinds of big guns...

The military personnel had such pride as they demonstrated the munitions and toured thousands of guests around their ship--our ship. We were ever mindful of how young these kids in uniform are and the peril each serviceman and woman might face. We wished them all a safe return...

Yesterday was Veteran's Day, and I'm proud to say my brother served in Desert Storm, my father served in Vietnam and my Grandfather, Major Robert L. Clements, 101st Airborne, 502nd Division, G Company, served during WWII, including parachuting into Normandy on D-Day. He survived many battle wounds and was awarded 3 Purple Hearts, and most honorably, the Silver Star.

He never spoke of The War until his final years. I think it was all too much. If you've ever viewed the excellent "Band of Brothers" miniseries, you'll know where my grandfather was and what he and his fellow brethren did. While greatly-decorated, war also left him conflicted and well, mean.

My grandfather served his country with honor and courage. I feel proud to write that. I also feel compelled to write that I'm not much for war as a means to solve anything. And if the draft came about, I'd likely show little courage compared to my grandfather, father or brother. If it came to my son, would I consider Canada? Or maybe fatten him up like so many of today's youth who've eaten themselves unfit to serve...

75% of today's youth are unfit for military recruitment. The biggest factor? Overweight and obesity.

I keep thinking that the power and deep pockets of the Pentagon will step-in and do something material about reversing child obesity. While I see the pointed irony, I also see the history. When our youths were unfit to serve several decades ago due to undernourishment, Harry S. Truman enacted America's National School Lunch Act and said, "In the long view, no nation is any healthier than its children..."

So true. So true.

Happy Veterans Day. And our deepest gratitude for your service to our country.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Pls Help. Do You Have Advice for Me..?

I received an alarming email from family this weekend...

It was one of those shared photo album links... And as I clicked through the pictures, I became both mortified and sad...

My cousin, who'd always been **skinny as a kid, was now beyond emaciated--skin and bones. So too was her husband, who when they first married was a little underweight, but nothing like now. He was a whisper of his former self. And they're really still so young. Maybe early- or mid-thirties..?

And my other cousin was even skinnier than before, but thankfully not quite as bad off as his sister. Unfortunately his wife seemed to be in a steady decent into becoming stick-thin. And yet I know her to be conscientious about healthy food choices and a promoter of organic and natural ingredients...

I worried for the kids in the pictures. Children always pick up so much from their parents' modeling, especially when it comes to eating and exercise habits. There were little clues in the snapshots that hinted at a grim future.

All-in-all, my far-away but beloved family is becoming unrecognizable to me--stolen away by a dangerous eating disorder. And what's more disconcerting is that the evidence of their self-destruction is in plain sight. There they are all in a smiling group--Is it a family-wide state of denial..? That photo album email went out to everyone on all sides of the family. I have a distinct feeling that if I utter one word about it, I'll be permanently uninvited to every family gathering forevermore...

If the pictures showed other forms of bodily abuse, I might be able to intervene... And it's quite possible they're seeking professional counseling about which I'm unaware... Can I ask?

I don't know what to do. What can I do..? What should I do? What have you done when this has happened in your extended families..?

**(Does it make a difference that my family I describe is suffering not from an extreme withholding of food, but in actuality, an extreme excess of improper eating? Due to today's pro-fat-acceptance political correctness, I'm not allowed to express any of the worries above if the subject is overweight instead of underweight. But the feeling of alarm, fear and sadness is the same, as is the complete loss for what to do...)

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Snap, Crackle, Pop Immunity..?


Immunity in a box of breakfast candy..? You weren't fooled by this.

I appeared on FOX Business Network with Stuart Varney Wednesday to chat up the latest cereal box outrage...

Obviously Kellogg's figured American parents are dumber than dumb when they tried to claim Cocoa Krispies and Rice Krispies promoted immunity.

Spray on a few synthetic vitamins and that's immunity?

San Francisco city attorney, Dennis Herrera, said not so fast... Of course these claims should never have made it to the shelves in the first place. (hell-o, FDA? FCC? BBB?) How cavalier these junk food makers and marketers are...

So we-the-people said "no," and now the Snap, Crackle and Pop immunity nonsense is going bye-bye--just like the dumb "Smart Choice" program...

Want immunity for your kids..?

Mothers, breast-feed your babies. 6 months, a year...
Load your kids up on rich green produce and berries...
Make sure your child gets 10-12 hours of sleep every night.


And how about flu-, infection- and inflammation-fighting Vitamin D? If you live above the latitude running from Atlanta to L.A...you're too far north in the Fall and Winter for the UVB rays of the sun to work their magic converting cholesterol to Vitamin D. You need a supplement, and today's recommended doses are being upped upped upped. Check with your pediatrician first... I give my children 1000 IUs of D-3 every day... And the more I read, the better I feel about that decision.

Monday, November 02, 2009

You Have Diabetes


Happy American Diabetes Month..!

The price tag for this party? $217 Billion Annually...

Let's see, 24 million have it. 57 million pretty much have it. And the rest of us are well on our way...

1/3 of today's kids are projected to develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetimes. And 1/2, HALF, of our children of color are expected to...

How about this. Since most of us are at risk to develop diabetes, let's just pretend we already have it.

You have diabetes, I have diabetes, we all have diabetes...

Okay, so now what are we gonna do about it..?

Daily exercise is a MUST. I'd go for an hour. But come on, you pansy, your big toe, bedroom performance and clear eyesight are worth knocking out at least a half hour a day, right?

Next up, diet. What should we eat? Well we need to get cozy with the concept of Glycemic Load--not just Glycemic Index. Glycemic Index doesn't tell the whole story. Glycemic Load is a better indicator of how fast and furiously sugar will flood your arteries with the expectation insulin will rush in and save the day...

So you want to eat foods that are low on Glycemic Load.

This means you'll be enjoying loads of veggies, beans, lean proteins, water, berries, etc. You know, the good stuff. This also means you'll be avoiding the "ingestible entertainment" that activates dopamine dependency, releasees a cascade of opioids and also spikes your blood sugar--the stuff that sets you up for type 2 diabetes in the first place. You know... french fries, the bread basket, bagels, doughnuts, cupcakes, cookies, crackers, soft drinks... We're talking sugars and refined carbohydrates...

I've been thinking about Tracy Morgan of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live fame. He's only 40 and yet nearly lost his foot by neglecting his type 2 diabetes. 30 Rock did a hi-larious send-up to the real-life tragedy/comedy of it all... Then there's funny-woman and The View cohost, Sherri Shepherd, who recently dropped 40 pounds and donned a bathing suit on-the-air, who was asked if she was doin' Weight Watchers, and she replied, "Nah, I'm doin' diabetes..."

When I hear that, first I feel sad. Then I think. What was it? When was it? When was the exact moment when the body said "no more," when it reached the blood-sugar and insulin-resistance point of no return? Was it a Valu Meal? An adorable little cupcake? Just one bite of dessert off someone else's plate? Or was it simply a day like we've all had when Tracy or Sherri said, "nah, I'm not up for a half hour walk..."

Imagine what Tracy Morgan and Sherri Shepherd and just about every type 2 diabetic in America would trade today to have that moment back...

That's it. If we start eating and exercising RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW like we already have type 2 diabetes...

Guess what..?