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TOM MORGAN'S MONEY TALK
You have lived long enough to make a startling claim. You can boast ''I lived through an epidemic!''. In fact, there is a 50-50 chance you can say that you were part of the epidemic. Think of it. People of old told us about polio epidemics. My grandmother died in a flu epidemic that killed thousands. People alive today can say they too lived - or were stricken by - an epidemic. An epidemic of fat. Of obesity. Fat is spreading like wildfire. Consider: In 1991 four states reported 15 percent or more of their people were obese. Eight years later, 37 states reported such obesity. We are not growing fatter gradually. We are racing to obesity. About 18 percent of Americans are obese today. This is a 50 percent surge in eight years. This obesity is inflicting us with soaring increases in diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. And other health problems that come from fat. We cannot blame this on the aging of our population either. The highest increases in obesity are among people between 18 and 29. And in those who have some college education. Used to be that these groups had very little obesity. Why are we ballooning? Food is cheap. Junk food is very cheap. Exercise is a drag. Fewer of our jobs require exercise. We don't even burn off a few calories moving around the kitchen any more. Or peeling the carrots. We just sling the take-away into the microwave. Better yet, let's hit the drive-through window at the fast food place. You don't have to be a scientist to see that a lot of kids get little exercise. Just wander around the neighborhood. Various studies tell us how much time the kids spend before screens - TV and computer. Obesity is causing 325,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. This is the second leading cause of preventable deaths, after smoking. One survey of obese people found that fewer than half had been counseled to lose weight. By their doctors. You can try to pin this on the docs. But judging from what doctors tell me, the charge won't stick. They say that overweight patients ignore what they say. ''Hey doc, my back hurts again.'' That's probably because you are 100 pounds overweight. ''Yeah, but my back hurts. Got any pills for it?'' If you lost some weight, tried some exercise, you might feel less pain. ''My cousin says his doctor gives him some kind of painkiller. Maybe that's what I need. I don't know why, but it hurts me most when I'm watchin' television.'' So what will become of us? I suppose theaters and airlines will have to widen their seats. Clothing makers already have tossed in the towel and let out the seams. Some health people want to legislate against fatty foods. They want to tax them to make them less attractive to consumers. The same way we now tax tobacco. For the same reasons. If they can get away with this with cigarettes, who is to stop them when they attack Snickers bars? Some optimists feel medical technology will rescue us. With drugs that flush the fat from our systems, maybe. Or drugs that keep us from absorbing foods that make us fat. Skeptics say ''Fat chance.'' Welcome to the epidemic. I remember a ditty: ''You are what you eat, said a wise old man. If that's the truth...I'm a garbage can.'' We are fast becoming a nation of garbage cans.
From Tom...as in Morgan.
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