"The best piece of advice a mother gives her child may be the ubiquitous mantra: "Don't put that in your mouth. It will make you sick." Although she may have been referring to a rock when we were 2, the food most Americans consume under the apt acronym "S.A.D." - or Standard American Diet - is doing just that. It's making us sick.
There is no longer any doubt that the odds of getting cardiovascular disease (the most prolific killer of Americans), Type 2 diabetes, stroke, certain cancers and arthritis expand with every extra pound. According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 65 percent of adults in our "super-size it" society qualify as overweight or obese.
For Southerners, the news is worse. We live in a mecca for clogged arteries known as "the stroke belt." A penchant for sausage biscuits and all things fried is part of the area's proud culinary heritage. Unfortunately, heart disease doesn't brake for tradition.
In the past decade, obesity has doubled among S.C. adults - and tripled for children and adolescents. North Carolina is close behind. The situation is so perilous that the S.C. House introduced the Children's Health Obesity Act in January to knock out future generations of heavyweights. By setting standards for nutrition and physical activity and keeping a close eye on what kind of foods children eat at school, legislators hope to stall a health crisis that's steamrolling in our direction."
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