Is obesity a shrinking problem?
The childhood obesity issue in this country has become nearly as big a media story as the adult obesity issue – and that’s saying something. But is it possible that the tide has turned in this battle? Well, maybe. Maybe not. According to the surveys, it appears that childhood obesity has hit a statistical plateau after rising steadily for more than 20 years. But no one is ready to declare victory just yet. The results are, after all, based on surveys.
The author of the study is epidemiologist Cynthia Ogden. Ogden said that this plateau “doesn’t mean we’ve solved it, but maybe there is some opportunity for optimism here.” But even thenshe’s just not sure. As I’ve taught you on many occasions, numbers can be squirrelly. And they can also be interpreted in any number of ways.
“It may be that we’ve reached some sort of saturation in terms of the proportion of the population who are genetically susceptible to obesity in this environment we really don’t know,” Ogden said. That, my friends, is a rare moment of candor from a study’s author with regard to statistics.
I find it fascinating that this announcement comes just weeks after the release of the “Wii Fit” game system that works in concert with the Nintendo company’s popular Wii video game platform. The theory behind Wii Fit was to bring even more body movement to Wii’s already body-movement-based gaming system. Many saw this game as a hopeful step, but I found it pathetic. It’s sad that a simple game of baseball or kick ball on a beautiful day isn’t enough to draw our children off the couch and away from the TV. It’s a very telling social commentary when a virtual outside and athletic world is more appealing to our kids.
I’ve also written here about efforts by the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon to feature more interactive programming where characters on the screen urge kids to get up and sing, and jump and bounce about as they watch the show until, that is, the commercial break when those same kids will be bombarded by messages for sugar-laden cereals and candy, as well as fat-laden fast foods. Again can’t the parents simply turn the TV off? Nationwide, our kids are watching a shocking six and a half hours of this mind-numbing garbage EVERY DAY.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this statistical lull in childhood obesity is, at best, a brief reprieve. In fact, even the zealots who’ve been pushing the anti-obesity agenda aren’t sure what caused the results. Even if the numbers level off for the next 50 years, that still leaves a staggering 32 percent of American children classified as overweight or flat-out obese. That’s one third of every child in this country!
The bottom line is that even if the problem is leveling off, it by no means has gone away. Let’s face the facts: a third of our children are overweight. And if the best we can do for them is to give them some “active” video games, then we’ve still got a long road ahead of us.
Dying to get turned on
Does toad venom turn you on? No? Well goodmaybe you’ll live. Unlike the brainiac in New York City who ingested an illegal aphrodisiac made from this nasty amphibian stuff – and died. After all, it was poison!
I never cease to be amazed that people still buy into the tales about aphrodisiacs. It’s tough to believe that in our modern and forward-thinking society that people could put any stock in this kind of witch doctor nonsense. But New York’s poison control had to issue a warning. This substance is sold illicitly throughout the city in sex shops under the names of “Love Stone,” “Jamaican Stone,” “Black Rock,” “Chinese Rock,” and “Piedra.” From the “stone” theme of the names, I suppose we can all guess what this substance is supposed to do.
The 35-year-old unfortunate enough (and, let’s face it, stupid enough) to have ingested the stuff endured two days of terrible chest and abdominal pain before he died.
Let me just give you some advice: there are plenty of natural ways to boost your potency, but if you come across ground up rhino horns, shark fins, turtle eggs, or toad venom stay away.
