Health Alert 247
Dear Subscriber:
Do you remember that Oscar Mayer ad with the child spelling baloney? The food industry has a history of clever ads to children. But an alarming 15 percent of children today are obese. That’s twice as many overweight kids as there were 25 years ago.1 The percentage is growing and the food industry is running scared…trying to avoid lawsuits and blame for the epidemic.
Recently, they have begun a campaign to clean up their image about marketing junk food to children. The new ads sound like they’re out to help children make healthier food choices. But – before you applaud the food industry for finally making changes for the better – there’s more to the story…
McDonalds now has apple slices and apple juice in addition to its milk (now repackaged as the milk jug). Wendy’s has added orange slices. Oscar Meyer has applesauce in its new Lunchables. And, Kool-Aid has a sugar-free version.
But these new meals are just as carbohydrate-rich and still processed, still laden with trans fats – one of the leading causes of high cholesterol and obesity in the country – and are low in protein, nutrients, and good fats.
The only known cure to childhood obesity lies not in the food industry’s less than capable hands but in the hands of parents. It’s in the ability to say “No” to the food industry’s processed food and “Yes” to naturally occurring whole foods that are rich in protein and good fats.2
Of course, the food industry won’t thank you for it. Because once you take control of your health, you’ll discover that you don’t need their products. That’s their worst nightmare.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears MD
Sources:
1. Is the Food Industry the Problem or the Solution? By Dale Buss, NY Times, August 29, 2004
2. Sears Al, MD. The Doctor’s Heart Cure. Dragon Door Publishing: Minnesota. 2003.