I have mentioned in earlier posts that fixing today’s chronic diseases is a change management problem that should start with elementary education. I’ve done more research and realize some of the things I learned during my own elementary education are the potential case of this very problem.
This article makes a compelling case for the cause of our current levels of obesity. It explains that “diseases of civilization” including diabetes, heart disease, and cardiovascular disease were not prevalent until agriculture enabled the low cost production of starches and sweets. Once starches and sweets make up 43% of our diet, they became epidemic.
We have reached this level of crisis in the US in part by following the food pyramid proposed by the US Department of Agriculture. I learned about this pyramid in elementary school. The Chair of Harvard School of Public Health Department of Nutrition claims the food pyramid is wrong. It was built on false premises and has been constantly contradicted by new research all over the globe. The Journal of American College and Cardiovascular Exerciseology says, “the low-fat-high-carbohydrate diet, promulgated vigorously by the … food pyramid, may well have played an unintended role in the current epidemics of obesity…diabetes, and metabolic syndromes.”
Some of our chronic healthcare problems have been created by taking the wrong advice from the USDA. This article offers some motives for this erroneous guidance. W.C. Willet with the Harvard School of Public Health mentions, “Some recommendations on diet and nutrition are misguided because they are based on inadequate or incomplete information. That hasn’t been the case for the USDA’s pyramids. They are wrong because they brush aside evidence on healthful eating that has been carefully assembled over the past 40 years.” The Journal of the American Physicians and Surgeons, researcher A. Ottoboni adds: “There is considerable concern today that the diet the Pyramid illustrates is responsible for the current epidemic of cardiovascular disease. The concurrent epidemics of obesity and type-2 diabetes are unintended consequences that can also be attributed to this diet.”
In 1976, a political document was released called Dietary Goals for the United States. This was designed by the Senate Nutrition Committee to increase carbohydrate consumption to 55-60% and reduce overall fat consumption from 40 to 30%. This was not supported by evidence or the nutritionist community. When released, the AMA shared their concern about the harmful effects it would case to our population. In spite of this, the government declared Dietary Goals to be “the truth.” The results have shown otherwise.
Why did they do this? Lobbyists.
The Chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health states “The thing to keep in mind about the USDA Pyramid is that it comes from the agency responsible for promoting American agriculture, not from agencies established to monitor and protect our health.” This statement raises some concerns that we sometimes get laws and guidelines that are not always in our best interests, but in the best interests of the lobbyist’s employers. It shows that we should not take everything at face value, but do our own research and analysis. It shows the long-term effects of bad policies.
Chronic disease can be corrected. It starts by educating ourselves and our children at home and at school. We owe it to ourselves to be proactive. We owe it to ourselves to question government mandates and policies. We owe it to ourselves to take a larger interest in our own health and our family’s health.
Curbing obesity is a multi-phase approach. In addition to education, we can use business intelligence tools to stratify patient populations for proactive steps. The obvious strata are those already clinically obese and those rapidly approaching obesity. For this group, the primary care physicians should develop a campaign to connect and advise them. The next strata are those who are not obese, but are trending upward. These too can and should be counseled on their lifestyle and potential risk/reward based on this lifestyle. Most hospitals, clinics, and IPAs have the data to do this analysis. I suggest we start with BMI, then get more sophisticated. Any group with electronic records can start doing this today.
Do you really want to trust the government with your life and lifestyle? Has your physician given you any advice? If not, do your own research and make your own conclusions.
