First Lady Michelle Obama to announce goal to reduce child obesity problem

Published: February 21, 2010

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The timing couldn't have been better for First Lady Michelle Obama to announce that her goal as First Lady is to reduce the ever-increasing child obesity problem that's growing at an alarming rate across the country. Why? Lent. If there is one term associated with the beginning of the Lenten season and Ash Wednesday besides ashes, it's fasting.

What does a traditional Catholic practice have to do with child obesity? Probably not much since even Catholics have retreated on fasting. Today, the Church only requires it on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. A couple of generations ago, the faithful fasted the full 40 days and then continued to perpetually skip out on meat every Friday, no exceptions.

I don't recall seeing pictures of too many overweight people 40 or 50 years ago, not like today when one in three American kids are obese - which is a polite way of saying, fat.

But should the federal government led by the First Lady find a solution, or is that up to parents?

Michelle Obama took a healthy bite out of an issue that will be a difficult one to chew let alone digest, given the strong lobby of the food industry and its friends in Congress. Uncle Sam may want kids to eat less junk food, but yet in every government and school building you enter, you are greeted by a variety of vending machines that rivals slot machines at a racetrack.

Junk sells and placates the palate; however, the government, no matter how well-intentioned, remains complicit in promoting the sale of such food to all comers. The hidden cost is the increasing numbers of children with diabetes that continues to climb. In an era of health-care reform, I have yet to hear any news about this veiled scourge and the long-term cost of treating it.

Julie Gunlock (with a name like that she's got to be a conservative) wrote in National Review Online, "When Obama's own daughters got off balance, weight-wise, she successfully adjusted their diet and exercise regime. If better parenting worked for her, why is she prescribing more government intervention for the rest of America? But unhealthy, fast food is quick, cheap and filling, so Americans need all the help they can get to kick the habit."

If Michelle Obama is truly serious about taking a bite out of the proliferation of child obesity, she can start with junk food. Her stature as First Lady would make campaigning a natural to have such foods removed from food stamp eligibility. No chips, pretzels, soda, or hot dogs.

How do you think Doritos or Coke would react to that or even the executives at all the broadcast networks? Forget Super Bowl commercials, they wouldn't be able to afford the price and we can't have that now, can we?

Parents are the front line of defense, and they know what is effective. Getting some exercise, limiting screen time and a good night's sleep aren't rocket science, and the costs are quite minimal. Then again, so is fasting. Where is it written that we must eat three meals anyway?

Fasting has its origins at the very beginning of biblical revelation and reaches throughout history, touching nearly every society and culture. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were told not to eat of the tree of knowledge. The book of Job details the suffering Job going without provisions. The Israelites fasted according to the Law of Moses in reparation for their sins. Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days before beginning his public ministry.

In ancient Greece, the pagan philosophers practiced and preached culinary asceticism, believing that forgoing food had a purifying effect on body. Similarly in the Far East, before Buddha became Buddha he feasted on one grain of rice and sesame seed per day, hoping such denial would lead to enlightenment. In the land of the Pharaohs, Egyptians wanting to serve the gods abstained from food as part of their priestly formation. Muslims fast from before sunrise until sundown during Ramadan.

The practice and tradition of fasting is anything but unique. The problem is we live in a consumerist culture that puts a premium on instant gratification and doesn't see much merit in self-denial. We fast to learn discipline and how to accomplish something that challenges the body, mind and soul.

There's a reason why the Grinch never stole Lent. With history on our side, putting an end to obesity can start by learning how to fast.

(Maresca, a local freelance writer, composes "Talking Points" for each Sunday edition.)

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