Mixed messages: The obesity epidemic needs to be addressed, but first try the latest junk food craze

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 by: Antonia
Tags: obesity epidemic, junk food, mixed messages

(NaturalNews) A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine says that, by 2030, 42% of Americans will be obese. And according to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, more than 1 billion adults are overweight, and at least 300 million of these people are obese.

With the obesity crisis more prevalent in society, people are urged to keep their weight in check to avoid problems such as increased risk of diabetes complications, heart conditions and even damaging psychological social interactions.

To help combat this issue, many efforts exist to raise awareness of the problem. Yet at the very same time, it seems that a paradox exists. On one hand, people are encouraged to eat fresh vegetables and whole, organic foods, but on the other hand, the influx of junk food inventions suggest that much of the food industry is turning a blind eye toward the obesity epidemic.

The rise of unhealthy foods in the marketplace

1) The pizza layer cake

The layered pizza "cake," which is filled with multiple layers of crust, cheese and meat, may make its way to the menu of its inventor, Canadian-based Boston Pizza. Recent online voting frenzies have caused a great deal of media coverage about the possibility of the pizza becoming dining reality.

Thankfully, not everyone is excited. Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum in Britain, said, "If this arrived in Britain, I would emigrate. It is a horror. The real danger is that there is no portion control. If presented with this, children would go wild. It is stuffed full of calories."

2) Vegetable-flavored ice cream

Haagan-Dazs has announced that, around the mid-May 2014 time frame, their vegetable-flavored line of ice creams, "Spoon Vege," will launch in Japan. With names like Carrot-Orange and Tomato-Cherry, they may sound healthy, but they're made with concentrated juices which are low in nutrients and high in refined sugars.

Professor Kui-Hian Sim, President-Elect of the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology, said, "In many of the countries in Asia Pacific the malnutrition problem nowadays is not undernutrition it is overnutrition, which has resulted in overweight and obesity."

3) Coca-Cola's mega soda dispenser

"Freestyle," the soda dispenser that lets people create their own soda from over 140 sugary flavor combinations, is already in many fast food restaurants, such as Moe's Southwest Grill, as well University campuses. However, consider that a 20-ounce soda typically has upwards of 18 teaspoons of sugar, and suddenly this dispenser, which is touted in the beverage industry as a "game changer," isn't very appealing.

But Paul Damico, president of Moe's Southwest Grill, disagrees. "We're converting water-only customers into beverage customers," he says. "I love this machine."

Sadly, they're also converting them into unhealthy, obese customers.

Sources for this article include:

http://en.rocketnews24.com

http://www.csudh.edu

http://flabbyroad.com

http://www.news-medical.net

http://www.independent.co.uk

http://archive.poughkeepsiejournal.com

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu

http://science.naturalnews.com

About the author:
A science enthusiast with a keen interest in health nutrition, Antonia has been intensely researching various dieting routines for several years now, weighing their highs and their lows, to bring readers the most interesting info and news in the field. While she is very excited about a high raw diet, she likes to keep a fair and balanced approach towards non-raw methods of food preparation as well. >>> Click here to see more by Antonia