Junk Food Warnings

Now there's a bright idea.  The Ontario Medical Association feels that laws should be enacted at the federal level to protect people against making unwise food choices.  They feel that graphic photographs of gruesome health and medical conditions caused by chronic illnesses related to lifestyle and inherited propensities, should be mounted on food packages to forewarn people of what could result from unrestrained consumption of non-nutritious commercialized food products.

Too much sugar, too much salt, an overabundance of fats in commercial food products that appeal to peoples' taste buds while wreaking havoc in their bodies is public enemy number one that must be tackled.  The growing phenomena of obesity resulting in increased diagnoses of diabetes, heart disease, cancers and other plagues on the human condition has set off an alarm by health professionals.

Who obviously have the health of the population top of mind.  It is they, after all, who in their offices and in hospitals see the ravaging effects of chronic health conditions, brought on in part by sedentary lifestyles and poor eating habits, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, not to mention drug dependency.  Yet, enter any hospital and you become instantly aware that those working within the health field are themselves representative of the greater society.

Obviously overweight nurses and doctors.  That old saying that the shoemaker's child goes unshod can be seen in the health care field just as it is seen in wider society.  Alcoholism, drug addiction, poor lifestyle choices cut across the social and educational and professional spectrum of society.  So it's a bit rich for the medical profession to point out the tragedy of society's failings in that direction when they're exponents of the very same malaise.

That said, just as they are intellectually aware that poor nutrition and lifestyle choices make for poor health, so too is the general public aware of those same yardsticks and parameters toward maintaining good health; being active, physically and mentally and socially engaged, making informed nutritional food choices, abstaining from excesses in any direction; avoiding tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption.

How many in the medical profession adhere to that simple enough formula?  About as many as those in the general public who dedicate themselves to protecting themselves from ill health resulting from poor lifestyle choices.  We live in a distracting, busy world demanding our attention and detracting from our intention to practise a good lifestyle.

No one is truly ignorant about how important it is to eat intelligently; we're just too lazy to make the effort, by and large, because it does take effort, time and thought and preparation.  All in short supply, unless we make it an obvious priority.  So please, we don't really need to see photos of abscessed feet due to a diabetic condition, nor a diseased heart and lungs, to get the picture.

We know the picture.  It just doesn't quite impinge deeply enough on our consciousness to impress upon us the need to make changes and to stick with them.  "The recommendations ... may appear radical to some, but the urgency of our situation demands aggressive action", insists the OMA.  "The lessons learned from the strategies of the tobacco-control movement should be applied to the fight against obesity."

Except for the fact that smoking is a lifestyle choice, one that can be altered to eliminate unneeded health risks.  And eating is a dire necessity, one that cannot be compared to a smoking cessation program.  People will gravitate to the kinds of food they crave, even though they are aware that their decisions will harm them some time down the road.

It's that 'some time down the road' that everyone seems to push beyond their immediate consciousness.  People tend to split themselves between those who know but don't care, and those who care too much and become too conscientious about their choices, eschewing breaks from the commitment to whole foods to sometimes indulge in something a little nutritionally risque.

When, in fact, that ancient, simple rule of the Golden Mean is as meaningful here as it is in all things in life; practising intelligent moderation.