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Obesity has become one of the most pressing medical and social issues in America today. When I was growing up, if you were overweight, you were “fat”; you were criticized, ostracized and generally made to feel “different”. Although this was socially a particularly denigrating experience for those with extra cartage, it was also a natural deterrent to overeating and hedonistic behaviors. This is no longer the case.
As America became a land of career first mentalities and economics with both parents working and little left for family time or proper dietary habits, something happened – we got fat. But the reasons go deeper than that; much deeper. Our collective lifestyles have become xenophobic and self-fulfilling. No longer is hedonism alone sufficient to satisfy our demands, it has to be fast and easy.
There were many temptations along the way to where we are. There were the hamburger stands that were so easy to stop at after the softball games; a quick pick-me-up for a crew of hungry kids. Then there was the fried chicken. When that all too famous country gentleman became a household friend and his fried chicken became one of America’s favorite ready to eat dinners, we officially became fat-eaters. Fried foods and foods with high fat contents were no longer the occasional treat or comfort food; they were the entre of choice. Hamburgers with French fries and onion rings, a big chocolate malt or a root beer float, maybe a piece of pie for desert. America had become the best and worst fed country in the world. Our portions were unrealistic and our food balance all but non-existent.
Along with our new modern society came new conveniences; luxuries soon to become necessities. The most prevalent and anti-social of these was and is air conditioning. Air conditioning can be a very nice thing and for those with particular medical issues, a beneficial thing. But as with anything, too much can lead to problems. Neighbors no longer gathered in the back yards to visit any longer and cocktail parties became popular. The neighborhood cook-out with a few beers was replaced with the more comfortable, air-conditioned indoor party with harder liquor and little or no activity. Children began to spend less time playing outside and with sports and more time in front of the television.
As TV became more popular and air conditioning became a common necessity, the cocktail parties – now considered passé’- were replaced with football parties and endless supplies of snack foods and beer. During this same period the new video tape recorder made the need for going to the theater all but obsolete and became the latest must-have status gadget.
Somewhere along the line we had, without realizing it, began living beyond our means and the wives started entering the job market. With both parents working meals often became TV dinners and easy to fix high starch meals. Children, now basically unsupervised after school and during summer breaks, spent more time in front of the TV and less time playing. Without parental guidance and with only TV program adults as role models, children began to develop skewed social development.
It’s hard to imagine how a point of light bouncing back and forth on a TV screen could become as invasive and pervasive as it did in everyday life. But what started as Pong, a simple toy that even its developers didn’t expect to survive turned into today’s video game industry with the casualties of health and social development along the way. Following not far behind was the personal computer, or PC.
It’s interesting to note that the first consumer grade personal computer by IBM was designated with the model number 5150. At the time, 5150 was the numeric code in California for mental instability requiring internment in an institution. Some would say this was prophetic. Personal computer sold well and became the latest must-have home accessory. It really didn’t matter at the time that most of the people buying them had no possible use for them and couldn’t begin to program them, it was status (and, of course, it would help the kids in school).
By now we had fully shut ourselves off from our neighbors and the outside world. Our lives centered around our electronic lifelines. We ate what we were told to eat; we believed what we were told on the news. We no longer discussed and debated issues and ideas with our friends and neighbors. We no longer needed friends and we didn’t know our neighbors. The adults drank more and the kids played video and computer games.
Our poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles started catching up with us and America started putting on the pounds. Rather than change the habits we had become addicted to, the gyms become health and weight loss centers and a new industry is born. We could buy a membership and lose weight if only we showed up more than once or twice; most didn’t. And we continued to eat badly.
As the population increased and food production attempted to keep up competition required manufacturers to yield to the desires of the consumers and foods continued to be high in fats and starches. As the demand overtook supplies manufacturers and producers began to change their methods to keep up. Higher density crops were grown with the aid of pesticides and growth enhancers leading to the interest and development of genetically modified plants. The processors began to take short cuts with safety and sanitation and food borne illness began to be seen; which brings us to the present situation.
We now find ourselves facing a dilemma of our own making; we are trapped into a lifestyle of poor eating habits, little or no exercise and no time to change. We are fat, and getting fatter with all the medical issues the extra weight can bring. We have also started to exceed our food supplies and started experiencing ever increasing contamination of basic foods in the stores. For too many food comes from the store wrapped in plastic or sealed in a cardboard box; they’ve never seen it “in the wild”. The question now is where do we go from here?
