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Freedom Robbed

It is interesting that health care reform is viewed as an impingement of our individual right and freedom. It seems to be such an infringement that certain states are suing the government and encouraging their political leaders to repeal this law. And yet I wonder, if people truly understand what they have already given up by the lifestyle they have chosen to pursue. . .

According to the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, April 2010, "Weight-wise, Americans are divided evenly: one-third are obese, one-third merely overweight, and one-third normal weight or underweight. If the trends from 1990-2005 continue, nearly half (45%) of us will be obese by 2020. . . 43% of US adults will be obese by 2018. Health care costs related to obesity would quadruple to $344 billion and account for 20% of total health-care spending." Also noted is that at least one third of American children are overweight or obese. Why aren't we up in arms about this silent, growing trend that brings us early death, immobility, diabetes, heart disease, and cancerous growths?

Somehow, we got fooled. Our freedom for making nutritious choices has subtlety eroded. Our grocery stores give us aisles and aisles of packaged convenience foods to warm and kind of fill us up, but since they lack the substance that our body really needs, the processed junk just makes us crave it all the more. We think we're getting such a deal when we order great big restaurant meals and take out snacks, and as long as we are ignorant to all those calories consumed, it doesn't seem to matter. We didn't seem to mind that we confined our cattle and chicken from their natural habitats, as long as we were getting bigger cuts of meat. Why aren't we upset about a food industry that has been reluctant to share the truth of what they serve?

I was saddened as I watched Jamie Oliver (www. JamieOliver.com), a British chef, attempt to bring a positive change to a small Virginia school. This particular town has the highest rate of obesity in the US. (And it takes a person from another country to recognize the disservice we have done to ourselves and children.) Elementary children were being fed pizza, sweetly flavored milk, and sugary cereals for breakfast, no fresh fruit or vegetables, no whole grains. Why aren't we standing up to our freedom for feeding our children right? We have given it up to a society built on mass production and disregard for human life . . .

So it is not that our freedom is being stifled, we have been the playing pawns. We have been too silent, just going along with the trends. We have fallen for the lie of convenience and have looked the other way. We have modeled unhealthy lifestyles and have made our children pay the cost. For if these trends continue, your grandchildren and mine will live much shorter, sicker lives. So it's not that we have lost our freedom, it's been robbed by what we chose to pay for. . .

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