Why Can't We Talk About Food?

In the national debate over health care, we don't hear much about food.  We hear about prescription drugs, co-pays, pre-existing conditions, doctor networks, diagnostic tests and so on, but no one talks about food.

Which is really an amazing thing, considering the indisputable fact that food is the most important factor in determining your overall health. Your body makes everything - your muscles, your bones, your hair, your skin - everything, out of the raw materials you put in.

Quite literally, you are what you had for dinner last night and what you had for breakfast this morning.

Now I know food is a very personal issue, and people tend to get really upset if you tell them what they should and should not eat, but honestly, folks, we're at the tipping point here. 

Somebody has to teach the obese teenager making his way up to the fast food counter to order another double cheeseburger with fries and a giant soft drink that his choices are going to spell a lifetime of trouble for him.

Sure, there may be some nutrients in the pickle or the potato.  There might be some protein in the meat.

But look at the rest of the meal:

            the gigantic amounts of sugar and fat

            the GMO ingredients in the soda, the cheese, ketchup, the bread

            the antibiotics in the meat

            the pesticides in the lettuce

How does that help a growing body? What happens after years of eating that kind of food? Who is going to say something. And when?

One of our doctor friends says that taking your child to a fast food restaurant on a regular basis should be considered child abuse. I agree.

Kids whose parents are letting them eat junk food deserve better. These kids deserve a better chance - a better future - one without physical pain, doctors, waiting rooms, diagnostics, medications, co-pays, pre-existing conditions.

We should teach our kids how to eat. It may not be politically correct, and it may not be popular, but it's the right thing to do.