poverty on a plate

[Guest guest]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/2005010

8/LEAH08/Columnists/Columnist?author=Leah+McLaren

 

 

 

What made my holiday-bloated tummy ache was the crowd at Denny's -- a

downtrodden array of American families in various states of morbid

obesity chowing down on a dish I call poverty on a plate: various

forms of saturated fat served up hot and cheap. Spend a week driving

through one of the poorest regions of one of the richest countries

and the modern American body gap becomes abundantly clear: The fat

are getting fatter and the thin are getting thinner.

 

Just last week, The New York Times Magazine ran a story about Starr

County, Tex., one of the poorest Hispanic counties in the nation.

There, nearly half of children entering elementary school are

overweight; roughly the same number of adults has Type 2 diabetes.

Contrast this with the tortured bone racks who earn millions to

parade themselves in front of cameras (i.e. the freaks we call

celebrities), and the cultural paradox becomes apparent. The more we

worship thin, the fatter we become.

 

A generation ago, low-income communities such as Starr County still

noshed on inexpensive traditional fare such as rice and beans; now

the foods of choice are chili dogs and cheese fries. In affluent

cities, meanwhile, the rich and thin compete for reservations at

restaurants specializing in overpriced " peasant food. "

 

Judging by the proliferation of diet books and health stories in

major newspapers and on TV, it would seem safe to conclude that North

Americans have never been better educated when it comes to health and

fitness. With all this wealth of information at our disposal, how can

it be that the average American, male or female, weighs roughly 24

pounds more today than in 1960? My grandmother never worried about

her fibre intake or GI level or resolved to cut carbs out of her

diet, and yet she's been slim her entire life. Why? Because she eats

small portions and plays tennis.

 

The plain, unsalted truth about long-term weight control boils down

to one simple fact: If you want to be thinner, you have to eat better

and exercise more. This (apart from the happenstance situation of

falling in or out of love) is the only way I've ever lost weight, and

I bet it's what Jessica Simpson does too.

 

Yet, for some reason, this obvious knowledge hasn't sunk in -- either

for me or anybody else at Denny's in Memphis.

 

Just as the gap between rich and poor widens in America, so the does

the one between fat and thin. As cases of anorexia multiply among

teen celebrities, so do rates of childhood obesity. Where does this

leave the weight-loss middle class -- those of us who just want to be

healthy and indulge in the occasional Saturday-morning fry-up?

 

Disappointed with ourselves, unfortunately. According to Kelly

Brownell, a psychologist who directs the Yale Center for Eating and

Weight Disorders in New Haven, Conn., the internalization of

unattainable ideals of thinness may be, at least in part, what drives

us to eat. In fact, the ability to maintain a healthy weight may

depend on giving up such aspirations. The successful participants in

her program, she recently told the media, are not all that

skinny. " When you see them, you might think they have five or 10

pounds to lose. "

 

Which is pretty much the way I see myself. Give or take a plate of

eggs and grits.

 

lmclaren