A new medical study says that one in five preschoolers is obese, and the rate goes to nearly one in three with native American children.
The Associated Press story quotes Jessica Burger, health director of a Little River Ottawa tribal clinic in Manistee, Mich., as saying that one reason for the ethnic disparity is a federal commodity program for low-income people that provides them with many high-carbohydrate foods, such as pastas and white rice.
(Of course, lack of physical activity is another prominent reason for obesity among children of all ethnic groups.)
This week I've been reading the book "Good Calories, Bad Calories," by Gary Taubes, which makes a very strong case that the high-carb diet many of us eat in the United States is doing more to make us fat than the amount of fat we eat. This is the principle behind the South Beach Diet, the Atkins Diet and several others. I'm no scientist, but let's put it this way: My name is Greg and I'm a carbohyrate addict.
Bagels and pasta have always been much too prominent in my diet, so it's going to be hard to swim against that tide and start reaching for eggs, lower-fat meats and salads all the time. (I can't totally buy the Atkins premise that it's OK to wolf down beef or pork at every meal.)
And it will be even harder to wean our kids off a starchy diet, but after reading this book I don't think I have much choice.
I'll see you at the salad bar.
---Greg
