New York City Follows in the Footsteps of KFC and Taco Bell to Ban Trans Fats

Following in the footsteps of KFC and Taco Bell (who both banned trans-fats in their foods, the city of New York passed legislation banning trans fats in all NYC restaurants. I was ecstatic to see this pass, and applaud New York City for doing this. You would think everyone (except those in the food industry) would support this! I was shocked to see how many dissenters there were to this bill and how many people were upset over its passing. I'm sure you're sitting there asking how the hell people outside the food industry could oppose this. That's what I thought at first….and still think to this day.

So the reason you ask? People were upset that their freedoms were being taken away by the government, and they didn't want this bill passed based on principle. I heard everything from, "if I want to poison myself, that's my right," or "who does the government think they are trying to tell me what to do with my body."

You've got to be kidding me. Let's set aside the fact that although the government created the bill, the people of NYC voted on it. Yeah, the people. It wasn't the government that made this final. We did. Even if the government of NYC had instilled this law without a vote, I wouldn't have seen a problem with it myself. I'm baffled that people would complain about the government stepping in and banning the equivalent of a poison that benefits no one except maybe the pockets of business owners. In the long run, if banning trans-fats nationwide reduces coronary problems (the main benefit from the banning), you'd think that would cost the insurance companies less and in turn reduce our insurance premiums. Not to mention friends, family, and ourselves get to live longer.

Don't worry smokers, I think your cigarettes are still safe for now, at least that is if you're allowed to smoke them within a 1000 mile radius of any establishment. But that's a whole other topic for another day.

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It's about time! Restaurants are now banning trans fats!

If you've been reading the news lately, you've heard that first KFC, and then Taco Bell decided to ban trans-fats from their food. IT'S ABOUT TIME. Sure it's a step in the right direction and both are doing the right thing…..but…..why were trans-fats used in the first place? My biggest gripe is that numerous food producers and restaurants were willing to put trans-fats in their food without any solid long-term research done on trans-fats. Saving a few bucks up front on their end by not doing studies and by using trans-fats over conventional fats while risking the health of patrons at risk does not sit well with me.

The media has been all over this, touting KFC and Taco Bell as being healthier than before. I'm terrified people are going to take this as "KFC and Taco Bell" are much healthier now than before, when they're really not. You're still going to be consuming the same amount of calories and the same amount of fat as before the trans-fat ban….albeit a different type of fat. You'll still put on just as much weight from eating this garbage, and have the same obesity related side effects as before. I've already heard a few uneducated individuals talk about how much healthier KFC and Taco Bell are now, and how excited they were about it. Looks like it's not just the food producers and restaurants who don't know what's in food these days.

For more information on nutrition, visit our Nutrition Forum

Elementary schools are banning recess games? Talk about hampering the childhood obesity fight!

At first I thought this was a joke when I read it, but apparently not.

Citing fear that students will get hurt and sue, Willett Elementary School south of Boston has banned tag, touch football, and all other "chase games" from the playground. Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Spokane, Washington, also recently banned tag during recess.

This is over the top. Should schools stop letting kids ride the bus to school for fear they'll get sued if a child will get hurt in an accident? Should schools stop letting kids play football, soccer, basketball and baseball for fear a lawsuit stemming from an injury? Should schools forbid our children from entering contests for fear of getting sued for emotional distress if they don't win? The schools might as well take away all the playground equipment and toys, and put each kid in a fenced in cage during recess to keep them from hurting themselves.

Part of this is our fault as a society for being so sue happy. Some people are willing to sue for anything if they think they can get money out of it. At the same time, if the school was so concerned about getting sued they'd have parents sign recess disclaimers at the beginning of each school year.

Willett Elementary cites that there are plenty of "other activities" the kids can partake in during recess. Sure, I can think of a ton, but almost all of them do not allow the children to get solid exercise from running around. When I was in elementary school, almost all of the exercise we got while at school was at from playing games where we "chased others." Football, basketball, baseball (when running to tag someone with the ball), kickball, rugby, tag, soccer, hide and go seek, capture the flag, running around the track, and red rover would all be banned at Willett Elementary.

On top of not being able to participate in those types of activities, I noticed they only gave the kids 20 minutes during one of their recesses. Twenty minutes? Ridiculous! It sounds to me like we're cutting back on recess to either limit liability for the school, give more time to teach the students to improve standardized test scores (school administrators are judged and sometimes compensated on students' test scores), or combinations of both.

In the end, the ones who are truly being hurt are the children. It seems Americans are so busy tightening the clamps on nutrition at school, that we're overlooking the other half of the equation, exercise.

Childhood obesity is already out of hand and getting worse. Until we scrutinize exercise in the same manner we're beginning to scrutinize nutrition, childhood obesity will only at level off at best, and will not improve any time soon.

For more information on childhood obesity, visit our Childhood Obesity Forum

The truth about nutritional labels and trans fats

There's an unknown trick manufacturers of food are doing when they use trans fats in food. If you've looked at nutritional labels lately, you would notice that foods are listed in increments of .5 grams

What you don't know, is that it is legal to have a product with only .4 grams of trans fat, and list is as having 0 grams of trans fat because it does not meet the minimum increment of .5 grams.

Now, you're saying, so what. We're talking .4 of a gram of trans fats, so no big deal.

Take a tub of ice-cream with 12 servings. If there's .4 grams of trans fats in each serving, you'll ingest almost 5 grams of trans fats if you eat the entire tub over the course of a week or so. But according to the label there's 0 grams of trans fat per serving, so that would lead one to believe that there are no trans fats in this product. If you're an ice-cream fanatic and have one serving a day every day for a year, that's 146 grams of trans fat you'd unknowingly ingest that year. Now do I have your attention?

Don't just look for the trans fat in grams; take a peek down in the ingredients. If you see the words "partially hydrogenated" or "shortening" in the ingredients list, it has trans fats. Be careful eating products with labels from outside the US. They may contain partially hydrogenated oil but it's not actually listed on the label, and you won't even see the term trans fats listed. Assume tall unlabeled baked and fried foods contain partially hydrogenated oil.

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What are we feeding our kids!

Parents these days seem to have less and less free time these days. Who suffers as a byproduct of this? Their children, specifically their diet. The lack of time is one of the reasons kids are fed formula instead of breast milk as babies, and given cheap processed or fast food. Numerous studies show that babies who breast feed are less likely to have obesity issues as children, and the same can be said regarding children who eat less fast food....they're less likely to have obesity issues as adolecents and adults.

You ask a parent what they would do for their kid, and they'll say "I'd do anything, I'd give my life for my kid." Parents say they would take a bullet, or sacrafice their own well being for the sake of their children. If parents were truly as concerned about the well being of their kids as they claim, they would not be poisoning their kids with fast food garbage, and would take the time to make sure their kids received breast milk instead of formula. Yes it's an inconvenience to cook meals at home and breastfeed, but if you care about your kids as much as you claim, that shouldn't matter.

Kids develop a lot of habits from their parents. Get them started on fast food and they'll be more likely to continue eating that garbage into adulthood, leading to more obesity related health problems down the road. This generation of children is the first generation in centuries to have a life expectancy less than their parents. This comes as no surprise.

Just remember, your kids see how you parent, and they'll be more likely to parent in a similar manner.....so they'll be depriving their kids (your grandkids) of a proper diet in the same way you deprived them, and now your grandchildren will very likely have obesity problems as well.

Parents, before taking the easy way out, please think of the well being of your children and future grandchildren. Providing a healthy diet will help your children battle obesity throughout their lives, and their habits will be passed on to future generations.

Why I started an obesity health and help website

I get asked day in and day out why I started a website dedicated to helping obese individuals. I could go all day on this, but I'll try to keep it short and sweet.

I love helping people. Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face knowing that I've made a positive impact on someone's life. I feel I can reach a lot of people with positive information and a lot of knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. I hope our community will become a tight knit group where individuals in similar situations help one another.

I myself have been obese. Unfortunately I have horrible genetics and am predisposed to gaining weight. It doesn't help that I work 12 hours a day, I travel Monday-Friday for business, and while I'm on the road, I can eat as much as I want for FREE! It takes amazing restraint. I know what it takes to lose the weight and keep it off; I just want to share it with everyone!

Half the members in my family have been or are obese. I hope all the efforts I put into helping others will inspire them to help themselves. Unfortunately I have already lost 2 close family members before their time due to obesity, and it's had a very negative health impact on another.

I hope those that read this will consider stopping by http://www.obesitydiscussion.com/, say hello, and take the time to learn more about obesity and what it takes to overcome it.