America's most obese cities

It is not something the Memphis, Tenn., Chamber of Commerce will publicize, but that city has just been named the most obese city in the U.S. Forbes magazine made the list up based on 2006 stats. From the story by Rebecca Ruiz:

To better understand the local and state implications of the obesity epidemic, we ranked the nation's heaviest cities. In doing so, we discovered states with multiple offenders, metropolitan areas with expanding waistlines and a high representation of Southern cities. Worse yet, after claiming the title of the most sedentary city, Memphis, Tenn., has also ranked first as the country's most obese.

Later...

While fast-food consumption is a minor factor influencing obesity rates, purchasing patterns often reflect larger health issues and habits in certain communities. The average American had purchased fast food 16 days of the month between January and September of this year, according to Quick-Track research conducted by the consumer tracking group Sandelman & Associates. Thirteen cities on our list, including Memphis, Austin, Texas, and Indianapolis, met the national average or higher. Residents of San Antonio eat fast food 20 days of the month, and had the highest frequency of the cities on our list.

Later.....


Others, such as Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, believe our salvation lies mainly in ridding the grocery store of food he calls "not fit for human consumption." Among the items he would like to see purged, he says, are the "shelves of sugar water, the breakfast cereal section, dominated by refined starch and sugar, and white bread and rolls."
According to Willett, a healthier diet, in combination with increased levels of physical activity and environments that promote exercise, would drastically improve the country's obesity problem. "If we do this right," he says, "we'll improve our quality of life in many different ways."

TK: Good luck with trying to get rid of the cereal aisle. This story should reinforce the notion in Congress that the farm bill should be used to help expand the USDA''s fruit and vegetable snack program to begin to change the youth of America's eating habits.