This just in. The Empire wants you to grow up fat and stupid and die a Supersized death:
***** March 24, 2002
Diagnosis: Supersize
By HOWARD MARKEL
AT this late date, few Americans need to be warned that ours is a nation of expanding waistlines. But two studies released last week point to a particularly insidious dimension of what experts call the "epidemic" of obesity: the health risks faced by overweight children. Today, more than 20 percent of all preschool children are overweight - more than double the number in 1970 - and 1 in 10 are considered clinically obese.
In The New England Journal of Medicine, a team of Yale pediatricians reported glucose intolerance in about 25 percent of the obese children and adolescents they studied. That finding indicates a much greater susceptibility to Type 2 diabetes, a leading cause of heart and kidney disease, blindness and death in the United States. At the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, doctors at the University of Cincinnati reported that 25 percent of the obese adolescents and young adults they studied had enlargements of the left ventricles of their hearts - a condition highly predictive of future heart disease.
Because eating habits are established early in life and overweight children tend to remain so as adults, the doctors in both studies are concerned about a broad increase in heart-related ailments, including atherosclerosis and hypertension, as well as diabetes and other illnesses linked to excess weight.
Given the enormity of the problem, it may seem strange to see fast-food outlets sprouting up in schools and hospitals, places dedicated to the care and nurturing of young people. Yet more than 4,500 schools now serve Taco Bell products, and the American School Food Service estimates that at least 30 percent of public high schools offer some type of name-brand fast food.
Chains are also opening more franchises in hospitals, including the University of Michigan Hospitals (Wendy's) and the University of Utah Hospital (Burger King). Since 1977, there has been a McDonald's in the lobby of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, whose patient handbook tells parents that "your child may order food from McDonald's once a week unless indicated in the diet order by the doctor or dietitian."
While fast-food consumption is not the only cause of obesity, it plays a significant role. For example, a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with cheese contains 530 calories and 30 grams of fat (13 of which are saturated fat, the kind that clogs arteries). By comparison, the average adult should consume about 2,000 calories daily, including fewer than 67 grams of total fat and fewer than 22 grams of saturated fat. A slice of sausage pizza at Pizza Hut contains 280 calories and 18 grams of fat (8 grams are saturated). Indeed, almost every fast-food product is rich in fat and cholesterol....
Howard Markel is a pediatrician and medical historian at the University of Michigan.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/24/weekinreview/24MARK.html> ***** -- Yoshie
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