The politics and science of obesity

Anyone who doesn’t know there’s a obesity crisis going on has no doubt been living their entire life on a catwalk. Adults are fat, kids are fat, there seems no end in sight, and a McDonald’s Crispy Ranch Snack Wrap has 340 calories and 17 grams of fat.

For those who hunger to understand the physiological, political and cultural implications of obesity, the California Science Center is sponsoring a panel discussion titled "The Science and Politics of Obesity: Who’s Policing Your Plate?" as part of the center’s Science Matters speakers program. It’s being held Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. in the center's Wallis Annenberg Building.

"A lot of issues have been in the paper recently about obesity," says Diane Perlov, senior vice president of exhibits. "This seemed like a very timely issue — New York passed a ruling on transfats, and there are other legislative issues dealing with obesity." Panel members include Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic, who will speak on the toll obesity takes on the body; Dr. Antronette K. Yancey of UCLA’s department of health services, who will address the disparities in communities that don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables or safe parks; Manal Aboelata, program director of the Prevention Institute in Oakland, who will tackle corporate and government responsibility; and J. Justin Wilson with the Center for Consumer Freedom in Washington, D.C., who will examine consumer responsibility. KNBC-TV Channel 4's reporter Conan Nolan will moderate.

The panel coincides with "Body Worlds 3", a reprise of a provocative exhibit at the science center featuring plastinated cadavers and body parts, the better to see what’s really inside the human body (it runs through Sept. 7). One particular specimen is a cross section slice of a 300-pound man whose fat encroached upon his vital organs. Seeing that is a wake-up call for many who see the exhibit. Says Perlov, "You think of fat as being just underneath the skin."

Reservations are required; register online, or call (213) 744-2420.

--Jeannine Stein

Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Magazine picks healthiest and tastiest foods

It takes about 30 seconds to hunt down a bag of tasty potato chips or fresh doughnuts in the grocery store. But shoppers can roam for hours trying to fill their carts with food that is healthy and tastes good. That's why Fitness magazine has come up with a second installment of its annual Healthy Food Awards.

The magazine, on newsstands today, asked a panel of nutritionists to create criteria to identify healthy foods, such as calorie and fat content. Then Fitness staffers put various foods to the taste test. Their list features 100 food items that can be found nationwide in most grocery stores. The full list is on the Fitness website. Here are a few of the winners:

Best popcorn: Pop Secret Light Butter Popcorn

Best frozen dinner: Kashi All Natural Chicken Florentine

Best sports drink: POWERade Lemon-Lime Energy Drink

Best cereal: Fiber One Honey Clusters

Best yogurt: Dannon Light & Fit Nonfat Vanilla Yogurt

Best energy bar: Clif Bar Oatmeal Raisin Walnut

Best cookie: Newman's Own Organics Newman-Os Creme Filled Chocolate Cookies

Best veggie burger: Boca Meatless All American Flame Grilled Burgers

Best cheese pizza: Kashi All Natural Original Crust Five Cheese Tomato Pizza

Best sliced bread: Arnold 100% Natural Whole Wheat Bread

Americans thumb their nose at the food pyramid*

This'll come as a shocker: Americans, it appears, are not following the rules of the government's food pyramid. They eat far too many foods high in fats and added sugars. This we learn from a study  published in the May issue of Journal of the American Dietetic Assn., conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute.

Americans don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, reports the study, which used 2001-02 data from a  government survey of thousands of Americans. And when we do eat a vegetable, it tends to be a spud. Tomatoes and white potatoes make up 46% of our vegetables, in fact. Half the spuds were eaten as chips or fries.

We eat plenty of grains -- refined grains. Only 10% are whole-grain (the government thinks the percentage should be 50% or more.)

About 51% of the added sugars in our diet come from beverages, 37% of the added sugars from sodas alone.

The researchers think nutrition professionals would do better by advising people to make good choices within food groups rather than focusing on how many servings we should get of each food group.

I went to MyPyramid.gov, site of the USDA pyramid, revamped in 2005, to take a look at its advice. There's plenty of it -- and, yes, a certain lack.

Take vegetables. According to a chart, at my age and given my gender I'm supposed to get 2.5 cups of vegetables a day. There is much information on how to do this in the "tips to help you eat vegetables" section -- even a vegetable photo gallery, with images of spinach,  lettuce, a potato, etc., so that I know what I'm dealing with. The pyramid suggests eating widely from different classes of vegetables over the course of a week. And it's got detailed charts listing just what constitutes a cup of vegetables for carrots, broccoli, cabbage, corn, beans, etc.

But nowhere that I can find does the pyramid say "eat more greens" or "pull way back on the French fries and giant baked potatoes slathered with sour cream." The absence of an "eat less" message in the pyramid has long been criticized by consumer advocacy groups. 

The white potato did have what almost looked like a warning label: "contains discretionary calories."  I went here and was reminded that discretionary calories are any calories you've got left over to play with once you've met all your daily goals for vitamins, fiber, minerals, omega-3 fats, protein and more -- the ones you can use to splurge on treats.

With two-thirds of the U.S. adult population classified as either overweight or obese, you have to wonder how useful the "discretionary calorie" concept is.  Even if a person eats a diet of utter virtue --choosing each food to have the maximum possible density of nutrients -- he or she only gets a couple hundred "discretionary calories" to play with. As we already knew, and as these scientists empirically show here, the U.S. population's nowhere close to doing that. 

*UPDATE: It seems the white potato is getting no respect anywhere. It's been excluded from the newly revamped U.S. Department of Agriculture's Women, Infants, and Children's program, which provides food to low-income pregnant women and mothers of young children. The program was recently changed to include fruits and vegetables (for years, carrots were the only vegetable on offer, and only to certain women) but not, however, white potatoes. The National Potato Council is none too pleased.

"I suspect that the rationale for this exclusion is that French fries made with white potatoes are already among the top three vegetables eaten in the U.S. and that nobody needs more of them," writes New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle on her "What to Eat" blog.

   --Rosie Mestel

Image: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Got milk? For weight loss, don't bother

Posing for a "Got Milk?" ad wearing a milk mustache has become a symbol of stardom. Brooke Shields is the latest "Got Milk" cover girl, following Glenn Close, Mariska Hargitay and Laila Ali. But some nutritionists are warning consumers they won't achieve a Brooke Shields-like body by consuming dairy products.

In a lengthy review published Thursday  in the journal Nutrition Reviews, researchers concluded that consuming calcium or dairy products does not help people lose weight or maintain their current weight. Of the 49 studies analyzed, they said, two showed dairy consumption was linked with weight gain and 41 showed no effect. The only studies that show  dairy consumption contributes to weight loss were funded by the dairy industry, they said.

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission forced two national dairy organizations to stop claiming that dairy consumption can cause weight loss. Now the "Got Milk" ads state:

"Studies suggest the nutrients in three glasses of lowfat or fat free milk a day can help maintain a healthy weight."

Consumers would do well not to be swayed by a milk mustache on a pretty face. On the other hand, the lead author of the current paper in Nutrition Reviews, Dr. Amy Joy Lanou, is a senior nutrition scientist with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. That group is vehemently anti-dairy and believes that dairy products are not needed in the diet at all.

If we can find someone who is unbiased on this, we'll get back to you.

--Shari Roan

Photo: Milk Processor Education Program / Associated Press

 

Distasteful reaction to listing calories on menus

This was NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams' reaction to the news yesterday that New York City chain restaurants would be required to post calories on menus beginning Monday.

"If the food and dietary police haven't done enough already, today they moved a step closer to ruining the experience of going to a restaurant for a meal."

New York City was the first U.S. city to enact a regulation requiring chain restaurants to list nutritional information on menus. The law was challenged by the New York State Restaurant Assn. But, yesterday, a federal judge said the action is reasonable in its goal of trying to reduce obesity. Williams wasn't the only person who is unimpressed. The National Restaurant Assn. said:

"Its flawed approach won't ultimately help consumers receive nutritional information that is useful to them."

But dietitian Keith Ayoob noted on his USA Today blog that other states are considering similar laws. There is no scientific data to show such laws make a difference in consumer choices. But, Ayoob said:

"At any rate, if you're watching your weight, you need to be informed about what you're eating in any restaurant. Unfortunately, these proposed laws only apply to major chains, not the local single establishment places that even more people patronize."

People like Brian Williams, who, I doubt, eats too often at Burger King. But he obviously worries about the rest of us.

"Enjoy your meal," he signed off, dourly, to viewers.

- Shari Roan

Photo: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times