Feds go local to help public fight fat

Programs include health classes, financial prizes

Tuesday, September 16, 2003 Posted: 9:28 AM EDT (1328 GMT)

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Some Indian tribes in Michigan are about to urge a return to traditional menus like wild rice and fresh fish, in hopes of fighting soaring obesity-caused diabetes.

Boston-area schools will begin teaching students why 100-percent juice is better than soda, and urging parents to limit children's TV time to two hours a day.

And a California-based managed-care company will soon let patients compete for prizes like a mountain bike or, for some, a discount on premiums if they lose weight and exercise.

Years of dire warnings about obesity's dangers don't seem to be shrinking Americans' girth. Now federal health officials hope programs that target different communities' special needs -- plus financial incentives like Pacificare Health Systems is about to offer -- will work better.

"This is the most difficult thing anybody can ever try to do, to get people to change their habits," says Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

This week, the Michigan and Boston communities become the first of about a dozen recipients of $13.6 million in federal grants to target unhealthy habits locally. The other recipients haven't been announced. It's a program poised to become the government's centerpiece in the obesity fight, if Congress grants Thompson's request for $125 million more next year to fund dozens more so-called healthier communities.

He envisions cities eventually will compete to be called the healthiest.

At the same time, Thompson wants health insurance companies to offer discount programs similar to Pacificare's, reasoning that a price break from an industry patients love to hate might be the final push some need to shape up.

Critics call those programs too soft and want the Bush administration to back some tougher solutions.

Make it easier for consumers to learn how many calories are in restaurant meals, urges Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. She says people might not super-size a cheeseburger meal if its 1,600 calories were posted right on the menu.

Or, she says, put more realistic calorie counts on snacks, such as deli-sold chips and 20-ounce soft drinks, which are labeled as containing two or more servings but that most people eat all at once.

"We are looking at what we can do to help get information to people who eat out," responds Food and Drug Adminstration Commissioner Mark McClellan. He just ordered an agency task force to hunt new anti-obesity measures, from better food labels to speeding development of diet drugs.

Healthier communities

But federal officials argue that ultimately, city-by-city involvement may prove which programs really help residents improve health habits.

Consider the Michigan project, to encompass eight Indian tribal communities, almost 43,000 people, where deaths from diabetes are six times the national average. As part of its $250,000 healthier-communities grant, tribal elders will encourage a return to more traditional foods -- fresh fish, berries, wild rice _ instead of today's processed fare. The project will measure if the diet switch is feasible and trims weight.

Boston's project covers the city's seven fattest, most sedentary neighborhoods. Schools vying for the $1.2 million grant are proposing to develop nutrition and exercise instruction for students to bring home to their families.

Then there are the insurance fitness incentives Thompson wants. When some reluctant insurers argued that laws forbidding group policies from charging the sick more than the well are a roadblock, Thompson ordered HHS lawyers to see if legal hurdles are an excuse and to determine how companies can offer appropriate perks.

Pacificare says it can be done. Starting October 1, any of Pacificare's 3.5 million enrollees in eight Western states can enroll in various wellness programs, from Weight Watchers to exercise plans to smoking cessation, that earn points. Enough points earn a prize.

Starting January 1, the program expands. Employers can then enroll a company's group policy, and designate how many points will earn, say, rebates on employee premiums or co-pays.

To change behavior, "we've got to be creative," says Pacificare's Dr. Sam Ho, who notes a similar program got Pacificare-enrolled doctors to offer better preventive care by paying bonuses. "If people are healthier ... it'll be less expensive to provide affordable benefits."

I don't think rice grows in Michigan...does it?

Juice, soda, same thing .

My company used to give us free soda and juice, but they dropped the free soda recently out of "health concerns" (translation: money). I reviewed their juice offerings, and found them MUCH higher in sugar than Regular Coke or Dr Pepper.

Oh, and wild rice is not really "rice"; it grows in cooler climates, and so, might grow there.

Of the three programs, the only one I think may work is the one for the Indian tribes, it's the closest to low-carb, natural eating -- and yes, wild rice does grow in Michigan and is lower carb than brown rice (1 cup cooked: wild rice: 35 grams/3.0 fibre, brown rice: 44.8 grams/3.5 fibre).

And the insurance companies already have lower rates for thin people. I know, when I was a small business owner, I couldn't even get insurance because of my weight and the one company that gave me a rate was so prohibitively high it was impossible for me to afford.

And I wish they'd stop blaming weight gain for health problems. It's just a concurrent symptom of eating an overly carb-rich diet. If it were the cause of all these health problems, then you couldn't be fat and healthy at the same time. And with low-carbing, that's where I am now -- fat and healthy.

I think the thing that's got me most riled up on this is that they are getting closer and closer to legislating what you can eat and they are going in the flat out wrong direction -- orange juice healthier than soda? Give me a break. They are both pure sugar.

End of tirade...

DebPenny - you are absolutely right - wild rice does grow in Michigan. Wild rice is not rice at all but seed from a particular type of grass which grows along or in waterways. It is delicious (no, I'm not going to go get any).

As far as the government legislating what we eat and drink - I also agree that they are totally off base. I got fat eating "right." I've never been a sugar/snack food/soda consumer. All of my food choices were whole natural foods BUT I stuck to the low fat high carb diet as advocated by so many (and by overeating those good food choices - they left me hungry all the time).


I am very happy with Atkins and, hopefully, other people (like doctors and other medical personnel) will discover that low carb is healthier eating.

All,

I am very fearful of the insurance backlash. Earlier this year, the insurance company that manages health insurance for the large corporation that I work for had a survey. They first informed everyone that overweight individuals, smokers, those with diabetes and high blood pressure generate most of the insurance cost. The company then implied that rising costs were 'those' people's faults. The next step that was taken was a massive questionnaire asking employees if they felt that 'those' people should be charged more for insurance.

So the punishments are on their way.

Nowhere is there any talk of payment for gyms, flex time for exercise, or better food in the cafeteria...where it's all junk food all the time...and where a 'semi-healthy' salad can cost more that the hamburger and fries special. To make things worst, I dare you to ask and receive any nutritional information on what's being served.

It makes my LC blood boil

Slimcat

Wild Rice does grow in Minneasota. The Native Americans have been harvesting it for eons. It, of course, is not the rice that we are most familar with

The passage below was taken from the GibbsWildRice Website..just for information:

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One of the biggest misconceptions about Wild Rice is due to its name. Not belonging to the rice family at all, it is actually the seed of an annual aquatic grass (botanical name: Zizania Palustris). It naturally reseeds itself each year in the soft, muddy bottoms of shallow lakes and rivers where the water is no more than three-to-four feet deep. The plants have a natural seed-shattering mechanism, which allows much of the ripe grain to fall from heads for reseeding, ensuring the survival of the stand. Also, unlike cultivated brown and white rice, wild rice grows in a colder climate and is cross-pollinated. The highly nutritious characteristics of the grain are consistant throughout the kernel, rather than being contained only in the outer layer of bran. After processing, wild rice boasts its own unique, nut-like flavor, unlike white rice.

Wild Rice - A Brief History

Centuries before French explorers first saw Wild Rice growing profusely in the shallow lakes and rivers of Minnesota and southern Manitoba and Ontario, the Chippewa and Sioux Indians harvested the grain each fall, relying on it as a stable food to see them through the harsh northern winters.
Wild Rice or "Manomin", as the Indians called it (meaning: good berry), was a unique and important part of their diet, due to its high-protein content and the fact that it could be easily and indefinitely stored.

It often meant the difference between life and death for the Native Americans during the long, cold winter months. Many bloody battles were fought, between tribes, for the control of the wild roce stands. During late summer, Chippewa and Sioux Indians would set up their camps along lakes and rivers containing large "beds" of rice, in preparation for the fall harvest. On the Indian calendar, the September moon is called the "Wild Ricce Moon".

Commercialization (White-man useage) of wild rice began in the early 1600's, by voyageurs and fur traders. They described it as "wild oats", as the kernels of rice are surrounded by a hull, much like oats, and, at harvest time, a good stand of wild rice resembles a grain field from a distance. Wild Rice soon became very valuable to these early explorers as a food supply and for trading.