White House takes aim at obesity
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration
Friday announced a campaign to combat the epidemic of obesity in the United
States through improved product labels, health education, and a partnership with
restaurants to help steer people toward healthier menu choices.
"It reflects our commitment to reversing
this tragic obesity trend, in which far too many Americans are literally eating
themselves to death," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson
said at a news conference unveiling the campaign.
Thompson's comments were timed with a report
from the Obesity Working Group of the Food and Drug Administration, stressing a
theme of "calories count."
The FDA, in accepting the group's
recommendations, plans to take a variety of actions in response.
They include:
- Reviewing the dietary information panel on
packaged food products to underscore the estimated calories in a serving;
- Defining what it means when a product is
described as being "low," "reduced" or "free"
in carbohydrates;
- Encouraging restaurants to include and
emphasize nutritional information;
- Boosting research into obesity and the
development of healthier foods.
In a written statement, Sen. Tom Harkin,
D-Iowa, commended the effort, but said it falls short.
"More aggressive steps to curb
obesity and give consumers the tools to make healthy decisions are necessary
to address this growing crisis," he said.
Harkin called on Thompson to support his
efforts to require that restaurant chains publish the nutritional
information of their food and to give the Federal Trade Commission authority
over marketing of "junk food" to children.
Federal figures released this week showed
that poor diet -- including obesity and physical inactivity -- is fast
approaching tobacco as the top underlying preventable cause of death.
Researchers looking at data from 2000
found that obesity caused 400,000 U.S. deaths -- more than 16 percent of all
deaths. Obesity and inactivity contribute to the risks for some of the top
killers: heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 64 percent of adults are obese or overweight. Even
more alarming, officials say the number of overweight and obese youth has
nearly doubled in the past two decades, and data suggests the levels are
still on the rise.
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