CAN HOME COOKING REVERSE THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC?
CAN HOME COOKING REVERSE THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC?
By Tara Troy, M.D.
Check out this incredibly interesting article in the New York Times about the significant socioeconomic challenges present in successfully implementing changes that could truly impact the obesity epidemic.
“Many nutrition experts blame processed foods for the obesity epidemic, suggesting that a return to home cooking would turn it around. But now some researchers are pushing back against that idea, arguing that it oversimplifies the obstacles that poor and middle-class families face.
The case against processed foods has been growing. A flurry of studies last month provided new evidence that these foods, which are typically loaded with salt, sugar, fat and chemical additives, heighten the risk of obesity and chronic disease.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health found that people ate more calories and quickly gained weight on a diet of mostly ultra-processed foods like frozen entrees, diet beverages, fruit juices, pastries, baked potato chips, canned foods and processed meats. Then a pair of large studies in the journal BMJ showed that people who ate significant amounts of these foods had increased mortality rates and cardiovascular disease compared to people who avoided them.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/well/eat/can-home-cooking-reverse-the-obesity-epidemic.html
Recent “research challenges the notion, repeated by many nutrition experts, that Americans can reclaim their health and reverse the obesity epidemic if only they would ditch processed foods, get back into the kitchen and make healthy meals from scratch. While that will work for some people, Dr. Bowen and her colleagues argue that it is not a realistic solution for families that have limited time and money. Nor is it necessarily an accurate perception: National surveys show that 48 percent of Americans cook dinner six or seven nights a week, and another 44 percent of people cook two to five nights a week. The data show that low-income families spend more time cooking than wealthier families, and they consume less fast food than middle-class households.
But the researchers found that many families faced an array of obstacles to healthy eating. Some of the families they studied lived in food deserts, far from a decent grocery store, and had to spend hours riding a bus to buy groceries or ask friends and relatives for a ride. Many would run out of money at the end of the month and look for ways to stretch what little food they had. Some did not have reliable stoves and refrigerators, or they lacked pots and pans and other basic kitchen tools. Others turned to their local food pantries, which provide a lot of processed foods that are shelf-stable but high in sodium, sugar and other additives, like breakfast cereals, pasta, crackers, packaged snacks, and canned meats and soups.
With so many hurdles in their way, the researchers found, working class families would often shy away from foods that cost more, spoil quickly or require a lot of preparation, and instead turn to things that they could cook easily, store for a long time and stretch into numerous meals.”
Finding solutions to the obesity epidemic will first require RECOGNITION of all the numerous contributing factors. Once these causes are identified and accepted, only then can ACTION be taken to make positive change. An incredibly challenging battle, but the team at Comprehensive Gastrointestinal Health is ready to do our part!
If you or someone you know would like to get on the road to healthier eating and learn how powerful food as medicine can be, please contact us today. We have a fantastic team including a Registered Dietitian, Nurse Practitioner, and Behavioral Counselor here to help support the use of whole foods in your diet and help you develop lifelong habits for improving your health and wellness. Call us at 224.407.4400 or visit our website www.compgihealth.com to request an appointment with any of our providers to get started!