A serious Public Health issue & not meant to disparage people impacted: Killer at Large

[JanMichael]

I watched this documentary last night and it isn't perfect but it shows how socially we have screwed ourselves via food. Not just "fast food" but also the impact of "no child left behind" which has killed PE classes in thousands of schools. Oh and the land use planning that has made walking to places like parks and grocery stores undesirable and ignored due to road design and distances...

Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat
2008NR102 minutes

"Obesity causes 110,000 American deaths each year and plays a role in one-third of all cancer deaths. Yet, despite ballooning concerns, little is being done on the public policy level, as this probing documentary explains. Exploring the issue from individual, political, scientific and cultural perspectives, the film features appearances by Bill Clinton, Ralph Nader, Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona and others."

Yeah - that dipshit Ahnold is in it - but even a broken clock is right twice a day. What we have done to the children of this country is shameful. It isn't really the fault of specific 10 year old's - but us collectively.

If you watch it please pay attention to the frantic parents throwing Twinkie's cookies and chocolate bars to their little pooh bears, through the open school windows, when junk food was banned from public schools in California a couple of years ago. Shameful.

[MadMaddie]

1. When the First Lady pushes for healthy eating for school

children the right mocks her to no end.

What needs to happen is a huge marketing campaign that shows that America cannot compete health wise and business wise with so many sick people. Why are healthcare cost's so high.....obesity plays a huge role in the numbers.

[JanMichael]

2. So true. I don't ge it though.

Even a doofus like Ahnold gets it but the rest don't...

[JanMichael]

3. Do you get the feeling that nobody gives a shit about this?

Like it isn't really a Public Health problem affecting all of us in direct and indirect ways?

[Panaconda]

4. Here's a review

While Killer at Large does address standard, and accepted causes of America’s obesity crisis like an increasingly sedentary lifestyle coupled with poor eating habits, it also brings to light many other more subtle, but, perhaps, more powerful causes. Interestingly, Killer at Large addresses an overlooked, but important, cause of climbing obesity rates: stress and fear. In a nation that is kept perpetually scared by its government and media, cortisol levels rise and with them so does our weight.

The film also addresses the incestual relationship between government health recommendations and the food industry. In one segment that would be laughable were it not also true, the film covers the loveable children’s character Shrek and how he was chosen as a government spokesperson for a program that encouraged children to “get out and play for an hour a day.” An hour a day? Really now. As if that concept isn’t ludicrous enough, food manufacturers (who also played a role in the development of the hour a day program) slapped Shrek’s image on sugary snack foods like twinkies with green goo filling during the campaign. No wonder kids are baffled.

School lunch programs and children’s health are discussed at length. For instance, experts interviewed during the film estimate that 44-45% percent of school-aged children will be insulin-dependent diabetics within 10 years at current rates or that we, as a nation, are 5 billion pounds overweight. A delightfully militant lunch lady and food activist describes how current school lunch standards are based on guidelines that are 3 decades old. These same standards count french fries and ketchup as “fruits and vegetables.” This is the first generation of American children whose life expectancy is lower than that of their parents. That is a tragedy.

...

http://nourishedkitchen.com/killer-at-large-why-obesity-is-americas-greatest-threat/

Does it talk about socio-economic factors?

[roguevalley]

5. it is a ticking clock. I lost 108 pounds in two years by walking

and watching my intake. I have diabetes and high blood pressure. Thursday I am getting reevaluated on the meds because they mess with my sugar and pressure now. I am too low. :) For those of you who want to know how to save yourself, walk. Don't walk fast. Just walk long. Set an hour and walk. Try small and work up. I can walk to detroit now. Not fast, but I could get there. All it takes is walking everyday and cutting out sugar. Even if you have a hard time getting other things out, start with sugar. After a while it won't taste good and you will cut out the hard stuff easier.

[JanMichael]

6. just a stupid kick to see if a real monster issue holds any interest for du'ers. nt