Sure
to offend everyone!
Bigger
isn't always better. SUPERSIZED Texans are
costing us all.
- 63%
of Texas adults are overweight or obese.
(CDC BRFSS, 2002)
- 29%
of Texas high school students are overweight
or at risk of becoming overweight. (CDC
YRBSS, 2001)
- The
obesity rate among Texas adults doubled
between 1990 and 2002. (CDC BRFSS, 2002)
Personal
nutrition is a subject left up to an individual
and occasionally one's physician. I would
be the last person to preach at the good citizens
of Texas about what we consume. But, friends,
we are now talking about MY POCKETBOOK and
every taxpayer in the state. Governor
Perry recently said, “ The sedentary
lifestyle not only has ramifications for individuals
that are out of shape, but society as a whole.
A lack of fitness costs Texas taxpayers and
businesses $10 billion each year due to increased
use of the health care system and lost productivity
in the workplace.”
This
is a very preventable tax burden.
Men's
Health has recently named 5 Texas
cities in the top 10
Fattest Cities in the U.S.
It is
riskier to live in Houston,
Dallas,
San Antonio,
Fort
Worth,
and Arlington
than
Chernobyl.
America
is eating itself to death and TEXAS IS LEADING
THE WAY.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control, obesity will soon
take over tobacco use as the number one
cause of death in the U.S.
Why
should we all be concerned? Health care
bills, loss of work productivity, and disability
claims are skyrocketing along with our weight.
Public hospitals are forced to purchase
industrial size equipment (at double the
price) to accommodate ‘balloon people' who
weigh over 350 pounds. A 400 pound 40 year
old male claims he cannot work and is declared
disabled. Medicare and Medicaid will then
pay for his knee replacements because his
joints were not meant to carry the weight
of two men.
Susan
Combs, Texas Agriculture Commissioner,
is leading a crusade this year for healthier
foods in our public schools. She says, “Obesity
increases the risk for several life-threatening
conditions including heart disease, diabetes
and some types of cancer. Being obese at
age 20 can cut up to 20 years off a person's
life. We must do something to fix the food
choices our children are making and help
them create a healthier, happier lifestyle.”
“Fit
Texans are much less likely to suffer from
life-threatening diseases like diabetes,
heart, and vascular problems. That translates
into such sweeping benefits for Texas as
healthier, more attentive students and a
healthier, more reliable workforce.” Andrew
Eisenberg, MD, chair of the Texas
Medical Association Council on Public Health.”
I
can admit to you that I love food. I grew
up on a dairy and believe that skim milk
is a crime. Chocolate will be waiting for
us in heaven. While my family is doing a
No Carb meal plan, I want an All Carb meal
plan. Pasta, Bread, and Cobbler with Blue
Bell ! Yeah! No.
Christians,
white, black, brown….our dangerous addiction
may not be cocaine, but ‘potluck'. Food
binging and snorting coke can both be fatal.
AP
reporter, Bobby Ross wrote on March 1, 2004:
No Donuts on Sunday?
“A
1998 study by Purdue University sociologist
Kenneth Ferraro concluded that church members
were more likely to be overweight than other
people. Ferraro analyzed public records
and surveys involving more than 3,600 people.
Broken down by religious groups, Southern
Baptists were heaviest, while Jews, Muslims
and Buddhists were less likely to be overweight."
"In many respects, a lot of the Christian
religions, especially the fundamentalists,
just have not made the connection yet that
you can dig a grave with a fork," Ferraro
said.”
Ed
Young pastors Fellowship
Church, an 18,000 member congregation
in Grapevine. Young is a former basketball
player and has stopped serving Krispy Kremes
at Fellowship. He encourages a “Body for
God” lifestyle with fitness and nutrition
training resources.
Hispanics
have also succumbed to the sedentary, overweight
lifestyle. Last year the ‘ Alamo ' filmmakers
in Austin struggled to find slender Mexican
Americans to fit into the uniforms worn
by Santa Anna's Mexican Army.
Texans
for Texas wants to promote good public policy
that promotes fiscal accountability. Our
personal responsibility should begin at
our tables. Texans say we know when to hold
‘em and know when to fold ‘em. Now we know
when to push back from the trough.
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