While surfing through the channels the other day, I came
across a remarkable sight: fitness guru Richard Simmons, in a
dark three-piece suit, speaking words of wisdom to Neil Cavuto
and making far more sense than City Council Member Joel Rivera.
In an attempt to combat the obesity epidemic, Mr. Rivera has
introduced a zoning law that will limit the number of fast food
venues that can be built within a certain area. Mr. Simmons,
however, says fat people have only themselves to blame for their
weight.
Why is there an obesity epidemic? Umm, perhaps because we eat too
much and don't exercise enough. Restricting the placement of fast
food businesses or demanding that restaurant menus display
caloric values are futile gestures.
When Mr. Cavuto told Mr. Simmons that a former guest claimed
that, because Americans aren't eating wisely, the government
needs to step in to control this epidemic, Mr. Simmons said:
"This is just ridiculous. I mean, it's like Big Brother in
the restaurants. If you know you can't go out to eat at certain
restaurants, then don't go out right now. Or, if you go, get the
portions cut in half and take a doggie bag home. We are blaming
the schools. We are blaming the employers. We are blaming the
supermarkets. We are blaming the restaurants. When are we going
to look in the mirror, Neil, and say, 'I'm to blame?'"
A reader once wrote me wondering whether the school breakfast
program could be the obesity culprit because children are double
dipping: eating at home before they eat at school. Could be. When
I was a child and our family was extremely poor, I had hot
oatmeal before school. But at some point, feeding students
breakfast became the responsibility of the school system. Look
how well that turned out.
Here's more wisdom from the mouth of Mr. Simmons: "You know,
it's all about respecting yourself, respecting this body that God
gave you. It's the only thing you actually own. And, you know, we
are blaming it on - on some nun in fifth grade, a grandmother
that called us chubby, an ex-husband who made a horrible remark.
We have to take the responsibility to look in the mirror and go:
Okay, I'm 50 pounds overweight. I have diabetes. I have got to
take the responsibility now and take care of me and my family. Do
you know how many letters and e-mails I get from parents who have
overweight children? And 90% of them are overweight
themselves."
As a child growing up in poverty on 110th Street, I was painfully
thin, but not because of a lack of food. I was an extremely fussy
eater and spent most of the summer days jumping rope and
roller-skating. We couldn't afford a television and video games
weren't yet around. Today's youth is welded to iPods, Gameboys,
Xboxes, and the Internet. Most of their day is spent in front of
monitors or television screens, high-calorie snacks in hand.
Despite Mr. Rivera's wrongheaded gesture regarding fast food
businesses, he was wise to grant $250,000 to a Health Corps
program that targets the root of the problem of obesity through
education. In his press release announcing the grant, Mr. Rivera
said, "I believe we need to take a number of serious steps
to counteract New York City's growing obesity epidemic, a problem
that is threatening the lives of our children and costing
taxpayers billions of dollars a year."
The program was founded by a cardiologist, Dr. Mehmet Oz, to
combat childhood obesity. My alma mater, Cathedral H.S. for
Girls, was one of the two schools participating in the program -
the other is George Washington H.S. The plan is scheduled to
expand to other public schools in the near future.
The Health Corps Council converted storage areas at Cathedral
into a "Wellness Zone" where students can exercise on
nongym days. Workshops are held to teach the benefits of healthy
eating habits and other well-being topics.
From what I witnessed of the program's demonstration, most of the
Cathedral students appear to be in much better shape than I was
when the onset of my teenage years ended my scrawny physique and
my battle of the bulge began. But the person in my mirror is the
one responsible for my girth, not the six pregnancies that I've
been claiming destroyed my figure. Mr. Simmons is 100% correct.
He, bless him, was on his way to beg the president to bring
physical education back into the schools and to recommend
starting a P.E. program for adults at work.
Now, excuse me while I dust off my "Sweating to the
Oldies" tape.