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Published April 20, 2005
Government reports
on food, weight offer
new menu of
confusion
The USDA replaces the food pyramid; the CDC says obesity is not as
deadly as reported.
By
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
If you have ever contended that the government's right hand did not
know what its left hand was doing, two news stories Tuesday should make
you very happy. Confused, but happy.
First, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture announced that it had replaced its old food pyramid with 12
separate pyramids reflecting individual needs. But the overall message was
clear: Americans need to eat better and exercise more because they're
getting too fat.
That was followed by a new study that crossed the
Associated Press wire. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
determined that being overweight is not causing as many preventable deaths
as previously thought.
Instead of causing 365,000 deaths a year, carrying too much weight
actually accounts for 25,814 deaths, the CDC said.
The study, to be
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said new
calculations show that obesity is the nation's sev- enth-leading cause of
preventable death, not No. 2 as previously reported.
Another study
in the medical journal found that overweight Americans are healthier than
ever, because they're monitoring their blood pressure and cholesterol
levels.
This apparently does not mean that Americans should toast this
development by scarfing a Whopper and raising a milkshake
glass.
"There's absolutely no question that obesity is a major
public health concern of this country," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, the CDC
direc- tor.
That's one of the reasons the USDA presented its new
food guide, called MyPyra- mid.
Maybe next time the USDA and the
CDC can get together ahead of time and work on their timing. We'd suggest
lunch, but . . . .
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