The Fat of the Land

Thank God Obama stuck to guns and religion, when trying to illustrate the big bind America has gotten itself into over the last years. One can only imagine what would have happened, if he had been deemed elitist for stressing an even (literally) bigger one: obesity. The Mister Softee jingle (“Bubblicious RMX” feat. Celine Dion and Enrique Iglesias) would go triple platinum, Ronald McDonald would clinch a last-minute nomination and pull home an election landslide, and Coca-Cola would break the NASDAQ after announcing its plan to fuse with leading water providers to deliver sparkling soft drinks fresh from the tap.

On May 28, the New York Times reported of “hints of hope,” while the Washington Post boldly declared that the “obesity epidemic might have peaked.” This cautious optimism came in the wake of data collected from 1999 to 2006 by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. As the Washington Post stated,

The plateau follows years of excessive weight gain among American school children. For instance, in 1980, 6.5 percent of children age 6 to 11 were obese, but by 1994 that number had climbed to 11.3 percent. By 2002, the number had jumped to 16.3 percent, but it has now appeared to stabilize around 17 percent.

That being noted, however, 32% of American schoolchildren remained obese or overweight.

What Happened to Arkansas?

Four years ago, in 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifted to code red after studies estimated that 40% of Arkansas students were overweight or at risk of becoming so – a number that was linked to the state’s poverty level. “Arkansas is one of the nation’s poorest states, and low-income adults are known to have high obesity levels,” reported USA Today, adding that the problem did not limit itself to Arkansas. “As more data comes in, I think it’s going to be this bad everywhere. I don’t think it’s isolated to Arkansas,” said Carden Johnston, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics to USA Today.

What followed was a display of corporate consciousness, maybe only matched by another “inconvenient truth”: the environment. On May 3, 2006, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, headed by former president Bill Clinton, announced a deal with U.S.’ leading soft drink companies to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools. Effective as of 2009, Cadbury Schweppes PLC, Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and the American Beverage Association have signed onto the following plan:

• Elementary schools will sell water, and 8-ounce servings of juice with no added sweeteners, along with fat-free and low-fat milk.
• Middle schools will sell the same, but up the serving to 10-ounces.
• In high schools, at least half of all beverages will be water. Juice and sports drinks can be sold in 12-ounce containers, along with diet soda.

But though the obesity index has stabilized, the optimism might just be premature. With a recession (lurking, mild or full-blown? – no one wants to be the messenger and get killed for throwing the country over the edge, risking bank run scenarios anno 1929), soaring food prices, and a growing median income gap, poor families will be more likely to be forced to buy poorer food, adding grease to the already “fat fire.” And while higher gas prices have forced Americans to fall out of love with their Hummers, McDonald’s is seeing the current crisis as a way to spice up the American love affair with their burgers.

A Big Mac a Day Keeps the Apple Away

When Coca-Cola got wind of the direction the U.S. was heading, it set sail for calmer waters. When McDonald’s caught the drift, however, it set out to conquer the seven seas. At a time when most other food retailers are struggling, the price of an apple has gone up 7.4% since April 2007, a banana has gone up 20.3%, and all food has gone up 5.1%, McDonald’s has promised that, “its Dollar Menu would live up to its name.” This led to March 2008 reports of an 11.7% same-store sales increase over the preceding 13 months on the US market, while McDonald’s European sales rose 23% in the company’s most recently reported quarter alone.

Though this could sound like good news for the U.S. economy, this route is headed for rock bottom. “Nothing is more degrading than hunger,” said Ban Ki-Moon yesterday at the United Nations summit in Rome, addressing the effects of the current food crisis on the world’s poorest nations. Paradoxical as this may seem, the spirit of Ban Ki-Moon’s words could be applied to USA’s obesity crisis: obesity is inextricably linked to poverty, statistics show. The state of Mississippi, which at 29.5% had the highest rate of obese adults in 2006, lagged close to $20,000 behind the “leanest state,” Colorado (16.9%), in 2006 Median Household Income.

Just Put It On the Tab

The pressure is on for the next president, as the weight problem is bound to leave its mark on health insurance expenditures. According to August 2007 figures, 47 million people – or 15.8% of the total U.S. population, and 17.9% of the non-elderly – were uninsured in 2006. Needless to point out that the uninsured are likely to be the same people that keep McDonald’s numbers sizzling, and who keep states like Mississippi steady sinking on the national health charts.

With a growing income gap, a shrinking middle class, an increase in teenage mothers, and close to ¼ of all US children being born to immigrant mothers (of which 59% were Mexican, Central or South American), who is going to pay the bill? This is not to make a case against “young love,” let alone immigrants – to say that either part does not carry their load of the American burden. Rather, the point is that neither are going to be able to carry much weight when it comes to covering Health Insurance expenditures (in 2006, the Median Income for Hispanic Americans was still trailing almost $13,000 behind their White counterparts). This in turn could prove fundamental if Washington is to be changed, since K-Street’s Top Dogs will be sure to look for something in return, when the bill ends up on their desk.

Young America had better know how to swim, because it is going to take more than 10-ounce containers to turn the tide.

By Peter Dahl