In a new twist on the "Super Size Me" fast-food diet experiment, the executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission ate nothing but spuds for 60 days.
Concerned by Institute of Medicine recommendations that potatoes be limited in school lunches and eliminated from the Women, Infants and Children food program, Chris Voigt set out to show that potatoes are not at the root of the obesity epidemic. After eating as many as 20 potatoes a day (with small amounts of oil and seasonings), Voigt lost 17 pounds and lowered his cholesterol and blood sugar -- proving what nutritionists already knew: When separated from their toppings and deep fryers, potatoes aren't a bad choice.
While Voigt was defending the potato, the French fry came under fire. Last month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors banned fast-food restaurants from including toys with kids' meals that have excessive calories, sodium and fat, triggering a backlash and arguments about government intrusion versus personal responsibility.
Meanwhile, New York photographer Sally Davies was making headlines with her attempt to document the decay of a McDonald's Happy Meal. (After more than six months sitting on a plate in her apartment, the Happy Meal burger and fries did not decompose.) When will we stop the madness? Diets, gimmicks, finger-pointing and a growing national obsession with fat and weight are not solving our obesity problem, and they may even be making things worse. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, hospitalizations for eating disorders in children younger than 12 increased by 119 percent between 1999 and 2006.
So, what to do? Clearly, tackling fast-food kids' meals in one city is not going to solve the problem, but we should not discount the effect of food marketing, either. The guy who came up with the Happy Meal more than 30 years ago was no dummy. Like Joe Camel on a cigarette pack, the free toy was a clever way to attract lifelong customers.
We need to turn the tables. What if the same marketing tactics were used to entice kids to eat nutritious foods? Imagine: high-fiber, low-sugar cereals with fun mascots and a toy in every box.
If only the USDA had the power to regulate the food industry, it could take a page from the FDA and require fast-food chains to post graphic warning labels next to the larger-than-life photos on their menu boards. I'm picturing a photo of a clogged artery next to the Chicken McNuggets, which contain more fat than protein. Or how about a diabetes warning next to the 32-ounce Triple Thick Chocolate Shake, which weighs in at 1,160 calories (more than half the day's allowance for most people) and 168 grams of sugar. That's 42 teaspoons of sugar, folks!
We need to get real. On the McDonald's website, both the hamburger and McNugget Happy Meals are pictured with low-fat milk, apple slices and the tagline "You want the very best for your kids, and so do we." If McDonald's truly wants "the very best" for our kids, why not voluntarily drop soda, Hi-C and French fries from the Happy Meal menu? It's a win-win. The parents who really want the soda or the fries would pay extra, allowing McDonald's to recoup the money lost by pushing items with a lower profit margin. Other parents might be pleasantly surprised to see that even the pickiest kid will eat apples if she is really hungry and there is no other choice.
Of course, no matter what role the food industry and the government play, parents have the responsibility and the power to influence our kids. We can offer a variety of healthful foods, with less-nutritious choices in moderation. We can get our kids involved in food shopping and cooking. And we can make sure our kids spend more of their free time running, jumping, swimming, biking, dancing and climbing than they spend sitting in front of screens.
It sounds simple, but it's challenging -- especially during this season of excess, when our hero is a roly-poly man with a penchant for cookies and our to-do lists include baking, eating and shopping for treats.
For those who find themselves too busy to bake Christmas cookies for Santa, may I suggest the McDonald's Happy Meal? Santa would happily re-gift the toy, and the burger would, apparently, hold up just fine on a plate by the Christmas tree all night.
Just be sure to choose the apple slices; I'm pretty sure reindeer don't care much for cold fries.
Lisa Miller is a freelance writer who lives in Oneonta. She can be reached at lisamiller44@hotmail.com.
Columns
Related Photos
-
Lisa Miller
Discussion
Welcome to our story comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including the unpopular ones. We only ask that you keep your conversations clean, civil and on the topic of the story you are commenting on.
Coinciding with our websites redesign, we launched our new story comments feature through Disqus.
Disqus gives users the ability to log into our story comments feature so that they may be able to track their conversations, receive emails when their comments get a reply or to even have your comments update onto your Facebook or Twitter accounts.
For the time being, our story comments feature will continue to have the ability to post comments anonymously. We reserve the right to require registration in the future using your name and verified email address.
Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified at the newspaper’s discretion for a number of different reasons. Please follow our Online Rules of Conduct at all times.
RULES OF CONDUCT:
We reserve the right to remove comments that are unacceptable, to wit:
1. False and inacurate statements.
2. Personal attacks. Explicit name-calling.
3. Harassing, harmful, vulgar, obscene and defamatory language.
4. Threatening statements or statements that suggest violence.
5. Hate speech of any kind.
6. Intolerant comments on religion, race, age, gender, sexual preference or disabilities.
7. Accusations of criminal activity.
8. Content that is harmful to children and minors in any way.
9. References to any type of sexual activity and other private matters.
10. Random and inflammatory statements that are off topic.
11. Advertising of any kind.
12. Typing in all caps.
WE ENCOURAGE REASONABLE AND COURTEOUS COMMENTS THAT:
1. Create conversation on issues of interest and concern to fellow readers and local community members.
2. Express opinions and contrarian views.
3. Stimulate debate with respectful language.
4. Stay within the boundaries of these rules.
WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SUSPEND OR TERMINATE ACCESS FOR:
1. Violating any of these Online Rules of Conduct.
2. Deliberately disrupting discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or spam.
3. Misrepresentation of identity or impersonating another user.
WE WELCOME:
1. Flagging violations of these rules that you observe to our attention.
MONITORING:
We monitor comments regularly Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Approval of comments outside of this time (including weekends) will be sporadic.
Marketing tactics could get kids to eat healthy foods
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
- Cary Brunswick
-
-
Some wisdom is best passed down through books
I was visiting a friend out-of-town recently and the subject of providing a "reading list" to young people came up in conversation. He said years ago he had asked a respected acquaintance in Oneonta to compile such a list for his teenage daughter, to help her be better prepared for life, culture, education, politics and people.
Continued ... - Let pragmatism, not politics, determine birth control debate
- As Center Street Elementary goes, so goes Center City
- U.S. intervention in Syria's uprising would be a gamble
- Santorum, Obama both got it wrong on Honduras
-
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
-
-
If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
In Otsego County’s local elections last fall, a number of candidates — most of them on the independent Sustainable Otsego line — ran on an anti-fracking, pro-sustainability platform. They recognized that our current way of life — dependent on increasingly scarce, costly and polluting fossil fuels — cannot continue.
Continued ... - Time to get off the bus and on the computer
- Cuomo's Machiavellian maneuvers are a danger
- Home rule laws aren't a radical idea
- Sustainable shouldn't be a dirty word
-
If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
- Lisa Miller
-
-
Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
Continued ... - Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
- Untethered from the cable box
-
Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Mark Simonson
-
-
Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
Continued ...
100 Years Ago - Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
- Oneonta residents had diversions aplenty in the spring of 1952
- Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
- Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
-
Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
- Rick Brockway
-
-
Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
OUTDOORS COLUMN BY RICK BROCKWAY ... Last week, my friend George and I returned to the Gunks for another rock-climbing adventure. After last week's column, I asked about the rattlesnakes and was told not to worry. Rattlers are usually quite timid and will avoid people as much as possible. It's the copperheads that'll give you trouble. They're aggressive and will stand their ground to defend it. Oh great!!
- Rattlesnakes may be closer than you think, so pay attention
- Spring is here, so fishing should pick up soon
- Sneaky fox may be the next animal looking to horse around
- Pass down the rush of turkey hunting to your kids this weekend
-
Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
- Sam Pollak
-
-
I'm happy with our kids to a certain degree
It was several years ago, and I was in the kitchen, telling my eldest daughter and my then-teenaged son about the person who was taking over as publisher at The Daily Star.
Continued ... - I get by with a little help from my 'friends'
- It’s not easy for a politics junkie to get off the stuff
- The Encyclopaedia Britannica in print, unmourned by me
- Angelo Dundee was always a good man to have in your corner
-
- William Masters
-
-
Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
Richard Lugar, after six terms as a Republican senator -- known for his middle of the road rationality and his foreign policy finesse -- has been ousted by a Tea Party extremist backed by outside right-wing funding.
-
War not worth gambling with lives of soldiers
Are you not tired of our war in Afghanistan? It had a point, once, after 9/11. Bush couldn't distinguish his myopic personal agendas from the nation's needs and let Osama escape, dropping the ball entirely, causing many deaths.
-
Titanic was a microcosm of U.S. economic disparity
Haunting reminders of the Titanic tragedy have wafted over us with the centenary of its sinking. The maiden voyage of an impressive, state of the art vessel, was a little like that of the Challenger space shuttle, at the cutting edge of developing technology. But the shuttle carried our pride in science and space exploration, not hundreds and hundreds of people.
-
William Masters: Nation stands divided between 'us' and 'them'
In February, Trayvon Martin was shot dead as "suspicious" by a volunteer neighborhood watch man. The case has aroused community reaction in Sanford, Fla., and is still echoing across the country.
-
A quarterback can't win the game alone
What is the relationship between democracy and wealth? Democracy is a political system, while wealth relates to economics. We have equal political rights, but we don't all have money. Extreme differences destroy the continuity of community solidarity.
-
Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
