High carbohydrate diets and lack of exercise to blame for obesity epidemic

Friday, January 16, 2004 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: obesity, childhood obesity, bad nutrition

This story mentions some research on childhood obesity that further
confirms the extensive problem now being experienced by the United
States and other countries. We used to hear about obesity striking
primarily adults, and then more recently, obesity in teenagers. But
now, we are increasingly hearing about obesity in infants and toddlers.
What's to blame for all this obesity? As this research rightly points
out lack of exercise is a major factor: apparently these toddlers are
already couch potatoes, spending only 20 to 25 minutes a day engaged in
some form of physical activity. But the biggest influences, no doubt,
the diets of these toddlers. Many are raison candy and soft drinks from
a very young age. They're given an access of carbohydrates from their
parents, many of whom are, themselves, addicted to sugar and other forms
of refined carbohydrates. What these toddlers need is the same thing
their parents need: a low-carb dietary approach that eliminates sugar
from their diet and increases the intake of healthy oils such as olive
oil, flax oil, and coconut oil. What these people need-both the
toddlers and their parents, usually-is a nutritional plan that really
works. Note that the US government is little help in this area, since
the USDA-which publishes the food pyramid guide -is essentially the
marketing and advertising branch for the US grain industry and therefore
heavily promotes the consumption of grains in all its forms: White
flower, refined white rice, quick oats, and other foods that are
increasingly being tied to metabolic disorders and obesity. As a
nation, we are facing nothing less than an epidemic when talking about
obesity. The incidence of obesity continues to rise, and more and more
people are interested in losing weight as adults. In fact nearly all
the predictions state that the weight-loss industry will continue to
expand in the years ahead, just like the waistlines of most Americans.