Uncle Sam Wants You Fat

[Guest guest]

The following is an editorial advertisement which appeared in the

Outlook (editorial) section of the June 20 Washington Post. It

charges the USDA with pushing fattening foods. The editorial also

contains alarming statements that fluid milk is the number one

source of fat in the diets of American Children, and that milk,in

conjunction with Oreo cookies,is currently being pushed on all

Americans by the USDA: " The federal government- believe it or not-

is pushing Americans to... drink more milk. "

I wrote the sponsor of the advertisement, Physicians Committee For

Responsible Medicine, questioning the main thesis of the essay. My

observation of overweight chuildren and adults tells me that it's

products like Oreos, not milk, that are making people fat. I checked

out the said products. Skim milk contains 0 grams of fat, 30% of RDA

for calcium, 25% RDA for Vitamin D, and 8 grams of protein; One

serving of Oreo cookies (3 regular) contains 7 grams of fat and

virtually no nutrients. I thought PCRM targeted the wrong food.

I received a great response back from PCRM with a reference to the

study:

Subar Af, Krebs- SM, Cook A, Kahle LL. Dietary Sources of

Nutrients Among US Children, 1989-1991. Pediatrics 1998; 102:913-23.

Dr. J Lanou wrote: " According to the study, the single food that

contributes the most fat in 2 to 19 year old children is fluid milk.

Fluid milk won out over hamburgers, ice cream, chips, fries, donuts,

cookies. While skim milk is quite low in fat, most children are

still drinking whole or 2% milk, and consuming multiple servings a

day. This adds up to dairy milk, despite the fact that a serving of

skim milk has fewer grams of fat than a serving of cookies, being

the number one contributor of fat to children's diets-at least

during the period of time surveyed in the study. "

Alkthough I'm an adult, I think the study gives pause for adults as

well as children. So far, my CRON eating plan includes a one half

serving of Stonyfield Organic vanilla yogurt (2 grams of fat/ 190

cals per serving)a day.I suppose if I avoid multiple servings of it,

I'm in the clear ;-).

Uncle Sam Wants You Fat

Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine

www.pcrm.org

At a time when two-thirds of American adults and one in five

children are already overweight, the federal government is-believe

it or not- pushing Americans to eat more cookies and drink more milk.

Last year, the United States Department of Agriculture got together

with Nabisco and the Dairy Industry on a $1 million " Dunk and Win "

promotion for Oreo cookies. The program is a not-so-subtle scheme to

promote milk, the number-one source of fat-both total and saturated-

in the diets of American children, and a food with links to prostate

cancer and digestive problems. This month the USDA launched another

sweepstakes: Spell M-I-L-K with specially marked Oreo cookies and

you can win $100,000. A " back-to-school " milk-and cookie promotion

aimed at school kids is set to kick off in August.

These are just the latest in USDA's long history of shameless co-

promotions for unhealthy foods. Mcs McRib Sandwish (490

calories, 25 grams of fat), Subway's BBQ Rib Patty Sub (840/38), and

Dunkin' Donuts Steak, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich (640/26) were all

government projects designed to fatten industry wallets at the

expense of your family's health. More recently, your government

worked with Taco Bell to promote its Steak Quesadillaq (540/31) and

with 's on its Cheddar Lovers' Bacon Cheeseburger, which tips

the scales at 690 calories and 40 grams of fat.

Had enough? Tell the USDA it's time to get serious about America's

obesity epidemic. Tell Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman to worry

less about the dairy and meat industries bottom line and more about

America's waistline. Write to:

The Honorable Ann M. Veneman, Secretary

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Roonm 200A

Washington, D.C. 20250

agsec@...

-end of editorial advertisement-