Obesity and Next Generation Food Pyramid

Are Obesity and the Food Pyramid related?

I wanted to let you know about some new changes taking place out there. I have never loved the USDA's current food pyramid. It is heavily into grains and people use it to justify eating junk food. Well, I need grains, but alas cookies do not count! Well, the USDA has made some new guidelines and will publish a new food pyramid later this year! Wow, I won't have to recommend the Mediterranean Food Pyramid anymore! Maybe? Well, here are their new recommendations:

•  Enjoy your food, but eat less.
•  Avoid over-sized portions.
• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables (The half plate rule)
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.
• Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals – and choose the foods with lower numbers.
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

These healthy diet habits are not difficult to incorporate into your life!

Another very scary piece of info I ran into was on the Obesity.org site. There have been a lot of studies done on children and adults and exercise does not seem to help in the development of obesity. Eight year old kids that exercise heavily do not seem to be thinner or have better BMI's than those eight year olds that do not exercise. That does not mean exercise is not important because it is very important for your general health, but not that helpful if you are overweight or obese or hoping not to become. What are we to do as a society?

I believe that you are what you eat! It is of extreme importance to eat healthy, avoid sugar and processed foods, develop a meal plan for calories and follow it with your family, and follow the above guidelines by the USDA. Practice portion control, eat less, follow the half plate rule, go for low fat milk products and watch salt intake and stop drinking sugary drinks. Please do not buy them for your family. The average person drinks 450 calories of drinks per day and that adds up to 45 pounds of weight gain per year! Each person needs have a food policy that says, "I don't drink calories!" I was at a dinner last week and there were various sodas, and only one diet soda that had caffeine. When the hostess asked me what I would like to drink, I said "I would love a glass of water!" It was not that hard. This one "food policy" that you develop for yourself, could be the difference between obesity and health!

Yes, I do believe that Obesity is related to food choices more than exercise habits. It is hard to make a general rule, because I believe that there are other causes too. Obesity is complicated, and I do not believe that scientists totally understand what causes it, at this point. Dieting and Genetics and Hormones are all factors to be considered too!