AMERICA, indeed, is a land of plenty. The country is big and its people are growing bigger.
Adult obesity rates have gone up in 31 states over the past year, according to the latest report from Trust for America’s Health, a non-profit organisation based in Washington DC.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese.
To keep its people happy and healthy, the New York City Board of Health wants the 20,000 restaurants here to limit the use of trans fats, the by-product of vegetable oil that enhances shelf life and the taste of food but also raises the risk of heart diseases.
There will be a public hearing on Oct 30 and if the idea is eventually adopted, the restaurants will be given a time-frame to phase out oils, margarines and shortening that have more than a half gram of trans fat per serving.
In Harlem, Sylvia’s Queen of Soul Food restaurant is known to have limited the use of trans fats long ago.
“We serve Southern food here. Black people are more prone to heart attacks and strokes, so we stopped its use gradually,” said Sylvia’s supervisor William Lessenberry.
Not everyone is happy with the idea, though. They say the Big Apple is turning into a Big Nanny by telling people how to improve their diet. And French fries won’t taste the same any more.
The restaurants, on their part, aren’t comfortable with the plan because most of the ingredients they use are purchased from other manufacturers.
More importantly, however, is the fact pointed out by nutritionists that getting rid of trans fats will not mean you won’t get fat. The devil is in the calories.
“Only a few calories in trans fats are eaten in a day. Eliminating trans fats has nothing to do with obesity,” said Assoc Prof Arlene Spark of Hunter College (Nutrition and Food Science Faculty) in New York, when contacted.
That’s little cheer for New York, which is ranked 36th in the list of states with the most number of heavyweights, where about one in five people is obese.
Mississippi is right on top at 29.5%. Blame it on good ‘ol Southern food such as corn fritters and barbecue ribs, they say.
The New York Post described the country as “The Waist Land”.
How did Americans become so large?
“There is an overproduction of corn products and corn subsidies leading to the production of inexpensive high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that’s being put into many processed foods,” Assoc Prof Spark said.
Another factor, she said, was the ubiquity of fast-food restaurants in low-income areas.
That is true. Look at those lining up for state benefits in Social Security offices and you’ll see a number of overweight people as these poorer folk tend to consume more fast food, which is cheaper.
A huge sandwich, for instance, is not more than US$3. And a simple McDonald’s meal is below US$10.
That is why a councilman here wanted to push for a zoning law, which limits the number of fast-food joints, citing poor neighbourhoods in the Bronx that have countless numbers of such restaurants.
Assoc Prof Spark also pointed out that a sedentary lifestyle and large portion sizes of food all served to widen the waistline.
In fact, most Malaysians would find it rather difficult to polish off their meal here, as the portion is usually bigger than what they are used to.
But there is another factor, too, which the professor did not mention: New Yorkers eat out more frequently than others.
“Have you ever visited a typical American home? Their kitchen is so clean because there is barely any cooking done there,” a Malaysian friend said.
It looks like staying healthy will remain a weighty problem for all.
(Sunday October 8, 2006)
