Fat of the land

1)       "Get television commercials for children's junk food off the air."

2)        "Create a federal agency responsible for nutrition education programs."

3)        "Adjust farm supports to encourage healthier foods."

4)       "Limit campaign contributions from corporate interests. It would create a more level playing field."    

SIDEBAR 2

No one can eat just one!

Ever wonder why that first cookie invariably leads to a second, and then a third? A few years ago, Dr. David Ludwig, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard University and director of the obesity program at Boston Children's Hospital, demonstrated that high glycemic foods, such as sugary breakfast cereals and hamburger buns, may actually make consumers hungrier after eating them. So , surprise! , they eat more.

When eaten alone or without much else, high-glycemic foods rapidly raise blood sugar, leading to a sequence of metabolic events that cause blood sugar to fall below fasting levels a few hours later, thus triggering excessive hunger and overeating in susceptible people -- or so goes Ludwig's theory, which was based on his studies of obese teenage boys.