From the "if-it-walks-like-a-duck" department

Need proof that we're getting fatter as a nation? I mean, aside from
the CDC's warnings and the abundant evidence your own two eyes
can gather on any given street corner, or in any given drive-
through lane? Well, the ultimate real-world proof that obesity is
the norm can be found in more and more hospitals across the
country, where beds must now be able to accommodate 600
pounds of flesh.

That's the equivalent of 3 merely overweight people! In addition to
that, built-in patient lifts (some people call them cranes) that can
transfer this kind of weight from a gurney to a bed are being
incorporated as well. These devices are being installed to save the
backs of the five or six nurses, orderlies, doctors or EMTs it
commonly takes to move the largest of patients just a few feet.

I've written about this trend before (Daily Dose, 1/30/2004), when
I told you about the industry-wide call for reinforced stretchers that
can handle more than a quarter-ton of human lard (more than even
the burliest pair of paramedics can hoist on their best day, believe
me). Apparently, 600 lbs. is the new "gold standard" for patient-
supporting medical equipment.

Yet now there are hospitals out there (no doubt in the fattest states
Mississippi, Louisiana, and West Virginia) who are calling on
equipment manufactures to produce beds capable of supporting
1000 POUNDS — half a ton. That's the same as the maximum
"bed" payload of a full-size pickup!

According to a recent AP article, heavy-duty equipment specialists
KCI and SizeWise have all the contracts they can fill for such
items, and business for these and other contractors is growing at a
rate of up to 20% per year. This is big business at $3 billion per
year and counting.

That's how you really measure health trends in this country — not
by government numbers, but by the strength and growth of the
industries that cater to them. According to the latest estimates,
more than 60% of Americans are overweight, higher than 30% are
clinically obese, and more than 1 out of every 50 of us is 100
POUNDS HEAVIER than is ideal.

How does this kind of thing get started? Keep reading… 

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The seeds of a growing epidemic

Whatever happened to giving kids apples for getting good grades?

Apparently, this kind of reward is far too quaint and un-cool to be
an incentive nowadays, if the standing offer of one of the nation's
largest doughnut chains is any indication. According to a Comcast
syndicated AP article from last month, North-Carolina-based
Krispy Kreme is offering kids a doughnut of their choice free of
charge for every A on their report cards.

Great, huh? Along with good grades, kids are learning wonderful
eating habits!

Under the guidelines of the Krispy Kreme rewards plan, even
already-hyperactive little overachievers can choose as many as six
per grading period from the company's 30 or more varieties of
these obesity seeds — some of which contain as many as 350
calories, 43 grams of carbohydrates (yikes!), and up to 27 grams
(double yikes) of sugar apiece.

School officials in some districts are complaining. That's rich,
since the cafeteria lunches served in the vast majority of our public
schools aren't much better than doughnuts for our nation's young
people. Sill, it's better than staying silent on the topic, I guess.

So what's the solution to giving kids incentives to get good
grades?

Teach them that achievement is its own gift — and that the only
folks who should use food as a reward for good conduct are animal
trainers.

Always getting an "A" in reason,

William Campbell Douglass II, MD

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                        Banned!
              Why the FDA slammed the door
          on nature’s best cholesterol buster...

While many Americans are popping risky and expensive statin drugs
for cholesterol control, the FDA is blocking the sale of red yeast
rice - a safe, natural source of powerful lovastatin…

Why? Because the pharmaceutical companies and the FDA have convinced
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Learn how one courageous M.D. has spent his entire career proving
that nobody does it better than Mother Nature. 

http://www.youreletters.com/t/75189/6626399/556026/0/

Sources: 
"Glycemic Index and Dietary Fiber and the Risk of Type 2
Diabetes" Diabetes Care, Vol. 27, No. 11, 11/27/04,
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 
"White Bread Linked to Diabetes" CBS News, 11/5/04,
cbsnews.com
"Changes in Whole-Grain, Bran, and Cereal Fiber consumption in
Relation to 8-Y Weight Gain Among Men" American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 80, No. 5, November 2004, ajcn.org
"Wholegrains Strongly Associated With Keeping Weight Off"
NutraIngredients.com, 11/8/04, nutraingredients.com