Mass in Motion

Sandy at Junk Food Science has a great article about a new tax waster [or waister, if you will] in Massachusetts, called Mass in Motion. It's $750,000 in grants for wellness programs. Remember, this is the state which has sent Barney Frank to Congress year after year to supervise Fannie Mae. If employers can tap you on the shoulder and coerce you into a "lifestyle management program" can voters suggest that some of the Congress need to lose pork in order to be returned to Washington?

I'm no expert on weight loss, but some of the things in the "tool kit" have already been judged in peer reviewed research to have little affect in long term weight loss--such as Weight Watchers

There was no difference between the low-carbohydrate approach of Atkins, the high-protein low-glycemic load approach of the Zone diet, the very low-fat approach of Ornish, and the low-calorie/portion-size approach of Weight Watchers, according to a 2005 study published in JAMA

And drinking 8 glasses of water a day was also debunked some time ago as a weight loss aid. I think that myth was started by plastic bottle manufacturers.

These type of grants (the $750,000 to Massachusetts) are ubiquitous--the only surprise is that it is so modest. They are everywhere, especially from HHS and USDA which props up our farmers, and the private foundations; it keeps the grant writers busy and the bureaucrats and lawyers employed. They often go hand-in-hand with greenies and vegan wannabees--so you throw in a few million for bike lanes, redesigned housing complexes, and community gardens. Mike Huckabee may be one of our most famous former fatties, and he put Arkansas on a diet because it worked positive results for him. The results are quite mixed, and Sandy also reported on this two years ago. There was an increase in underweight children, and the percentage of overweight and at risk African American girls significantly increased as they grew.

I can't prove it, but I'm guessing if you chart the huge weight gains of Americans and the rise in diabetes and other obesity related health problems, you might track it back to government interference 30-40 years ago with our food commodities like corn and sugar. When I was growing up we had real sugar in Coca-cola and candy bars, and I sure didn't see so many obese people. Our legislators and regulators, probably after a few hearings before Congress, slapped tariffs on imported sugar (because it was bad for us and made us dependent on foreign imports), and then paid U.S. farmers to grow more corn to put high fructose corn syrup in everything from soup to soft drinks. And each generation got fatter. Anyone know where there's a chart?

We don't eat oil, but we're dependent on it for everything in our culture. The government has done the same thing in the name of being "independent of foreign oil" and going green. Then when the government botches it up and creates huge industries like carbon exchanges and ethanol that support their mistake, they can tax us again to try to correct it.