The New York Times of February 21st had two articles which caught my
attention. The first one was "Children in U.S. Are Eating Fewer Calories
, Study Finds ". The other one was " The Extraordinary Science of
Addictive Junk Food ". Normally when you think of obesity you think of
fast food and soft drinks and when you think of addiction , you think of
drugs , cigarettes, or alcohol. You would not associate addiction with
food produced by companies such as Nestle, General Mills, General Foods and
Kraft . However the article talked about the great length these
companies go to include ingredients which are not just unhealthy , but which
make you crave for more. My intention is not to berate any of companies,
because at the end of the day, as an adult you are responsible for what
you eat or drink. As one of the CEO's in the article said of the
consumer " But most often, people bought what they liked, and they
liked what tasted good".
As far as drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin ,ice are
concerned, the suppliers use the same argument as the heads of the
multinational food companies " we are giving the customers what
they want ". The response of many of the South American countries to the
United States is that they should kill the demand. Unfortunately based
on certain legislation, it appears that steps are being taken to go in
the opposite direction - legalizing it , first the soft drugs and then
perhaps the others. Will this help solve the problem. I doubt it. If you
look at the examples of legalized addictive products.
In most cases with tobacco and alcohol we start off as teenagers,
not because we like their taste , but it makes us look or feel grown up
and sophisticated and then gradually develop a liking for it.( I remember the
first and last time tasting beer, I almost threw up). This then
develops into a liking for it and while most of us are able to limit
it to social drinking, there are others who exceed their limits. Similarly
for tobacco, most smokers are aware of the consequences. If not, they
must be illiterate. Increasingly in most countries, the packet clearly spells out
in bold letters "Smoking Kills " or its equivalent , and in some countries have graphic
images of diseased lungs.Similarly for alcohol.
On many social occasions you have friends "
stepping out for some fresh air" when it is the opposite. The saving
grace is that unlike a decade or so ago, it is not considered
politically correct to smoke inside , unless it is your own house. In both cases taxes from these products
provide among the highest revenues, particularly for state governments
in India. Concurrently the cost incurred in treating lung cancer (both
in state and private hospitals ) probably offsets the revenue . The
gainers are the shareholders of the companies. (Disclosure - I have
shares in a tobacco company in India).
The irony of the whole situation is that while in tobacco, liquor and drugs the parents are totally against it , until most of us reach adulthood and decide for our selves, in the case of food it is the parents who are culpable. They feed the children food which they know is not necessarily healthy - starting off with sugared cereal and then moving them on fast food . The New York Times has an example of how Kraft created a whole market when its survey showed that Mothers were most busy in the morning and had little time in making lunch for the children to take to school. They created "lunchables" which was processed food and kept adding other items including dessert. In addition, the food companies advertisements are aimed at the younger children who pester their parents .Unless you are a strong willed parent, you give in, knowing full well that is is unhealthy.
The school cafeteria added to list of unhealthy food for the children. This has resulted in almost forty percent of the population in the United States now being classified as obese. Leaders such as Mayor Bloomberg have taken radical steps in forcing restaurants to cut back on the use of trans-fat in their cooking. Also on super sized food and soft drinks helpings.There now appears to be some early signs that people are becoming more aware and perhaps the tide is beginning to turn, but it is too early to declare victory.
Unfortunately the unhealthy eating is not just restricted to the United States. It is now becoming univesal. We are all aware how the Pacific Islanders in countries such as Samoa and Fiji are becoming obese , but it is now spreading to countries which you traditionally did not associate with overweight people such as those in South East Asia, China and India.
In India, traditionally dairy based sugary sweet deserts have been the norm for centuries, but now with the increased prosperity, this combined with the western fast food and the fried snacks is leading to the age group of diabetes and hyper tension suffers being lowered. Public health is becoming a bigger burden and a increasing lucrative industry.
Looking at it dispassionately, one can say this is a easy problem to solve, particularly the issue of food. If the parents cut back on food items which we all know are harmful, it will set an example, but regretfully it is difficult for them to do so since they themselves enjoy it.
At this point I have to confess my own personal addiction - a particular brand of peanut brittle made in Punjab"Swami chikee" made with peanut and raw sugar from freshly harvested sugar cane. I have tried peanut brittle in the United States , in Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, but this brand from Punjab beats them hands down.When I occasionally do manage to get hold of f a few packets occasionally, I hoard them and refuse to share it. Fortunately the season lasts from November to January and it is difficult to get stock after that. I have toyed with the idea of filling up the refrigerator, but unfortunately ( or fortunately ) my wife puts her foot down, so every February I go cold turkey.
