Even as bad news about increasing rates of obesity nationwide continues to roll in - dismal 2010 data was published by the Associated Press today - there are some encouraging trends that may begin to reverse the problem. UC Cooperative Extension nutrition educator Sara Bosse injected a positive message during a recent Quality of Life broadcast about obesity, aired on Valley Public Radio.
"Those of us who have been working on the issue for a long time are seeing results of our hard work," Bosse said.
Bosse, Quality of Life host Joe Moore, and Fresno State nutrition educator Genoveva Islas-Hooker discussed some of the the reasons so many people are packing on pounds:
- Soda serving sizes have swollen exponentially since the 70s
- Restaurant portion sizes are larger than 10 or 20 years ago
- Parents, concerned for their children's safety, often prefer to keep them indoors
- School fences are locked after hours
Islas-Hooker said educators have been telling people they must do something about their weight, but have neglected to address how environments we have created conspire against them.
Caller Lois in Bakersfield asked whether anything has been done to reduce the advertising of unhealthful food and drinks to children, particularly on TV.
Bosse said experts have been working on this difficult issue.
"We are trying to get (businesses') voluntary agreement to not target kids as much, but it's a real uphill battle," Bosse said. "There is still a lot more advertising to children than is in any way healthy for their well being."
Bosse continued: "We need to, as a society, make our mind up about what's important and what our values are and figure out how businesses can make money and can operate a healthy business that's good for our kids and still be able to survive in a difficult market."
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Unhealthy food is cheap and readily available.