What is the Olympic diet?
Kara Thomas
Issue date: 3/19/10 Section: Forum
There are many qualities that make up an Olympian. Natural talent and years of training and sacrifice are among them. Despite what McDonald's would like to have you believe, a trip to the McDonald's drive-thru before practice, or a coach that rewards you for losing with a six-pack of McNuggets are not on that list.
So, imagine my surprise when I saw commercials advertising just that during an Olympic broadcast.
Surely Olympians can't possibly be eating Big Macs and super-sizing their fries. The body of an Olympic athlete is a finely-tuned machine that needs the best fuel for optimum performance, not the artificial colors and eight different kinds of preservatives found in a Sausage McMuffin with egg.
McDonalds began their Olympic involvement in 1968 by sending hamburgers to the athletes in France.
So why, over 40 years after McDonald's supposedly began feeding Olympians, are people like myself objecting?
I'm objecting because we now know that the enriched flour in hamburger buns isn't as wholesome as McDonald's would have us believe. I'm objecting because childhood obesity is rising faster than my cholesterol levels just thinking about a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese.
There is no denying the fact that children are becoming overweight at alarming rates. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Association of Children's Hospitals, over the past three decades childhood obesity has more than doubled for children 2-5 years old and 12-19 years old, and tripled for children 6-11 years old.
These kids aren't big-boned; they're big-burgered. And I'm not the only one who has noticed.
First Lady Michelle Obama has taken on the responsibility of rectifying the problem of children's expanding waistlines with the "Let's Move" campaign. The campaign - which identifies childhood obesity as an epidemic - focuses on healthier food, both in and out of school, as well as increased physical activity.
So, imagine my surprise when I saw commercials advertising just that during an Olympic broadcast.
Surely Olympians can't possibly be eating Big Macs and super-sizing their fries. The body of an Olympic athlete is a finely-tuned machine that needs the best fuel for optimum performance, not the artificial colors and eight different kinds of preservatives found in a Sausage McMuffin with egg.
McDonalds began their Olympic involvement in 1968 by sending hamburgers to the athletes in France.
So why, over 40 years after McDonald's supposedly began feeding Olympians, are people like myself objecting?
I'm objecting because we now know that the enriched flour in hamburger buns isn't as wholesome as McDonald's would have us believe. I'm objecting because childhood obesity is rising faster than my cholesterol levels just thinking about a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese.
There is no denying the fact that children are becoming overweight at alarming rates. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Association of Children's Hospitals, over the past three decades childhood obesity has more than doubled for children 2-5 years old and 12-19 years old, and tripled for children 6-11 years old.
These kids aren't big-boned; they're big-burgered. And I'm not the only one who has noticed.
First Lady Michelle Obama has taken on the responsibility of rectifying the problem of children's expanding waistlines with the "Let's Move" campaign. The campaign - which identifies childhood obesity as an epidemic - focuses on healthier food, both in and out of school, as well as increased physical activity.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Philip
posted 3/19/10 @ 11:28 PM EST
There's an interesting post over at the Health Journal Club that makes the case that people should just not eat anything that wasn't a food 100 years ago. (Continued…)
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