Unskinny Bop - Globesity Pandemic

Over the weekend news surfaced from something called the 10th International Congress on Obesity...which will hear research and papers from almost 400 experts to over 2500 attendees between now & Friday in Sydney Australia.

One scientist leading the gathering called the scourge not only unsightly, but a global freaking "Pandemic". Over 1.5 Billion people are tipping scales into the overweight categoy, and almost half a billion are clinically "Obese", meaning 3x the normal weight, many are children.



Fat is no longer just for fat jokes, but has truly become a global health crisis, in which there are now more people on the planet who are over nourished than under nourished...

If left unchecked, health experts predict billions of dollars in creased costs, as the world's hospitals will actually be over run by terrifying tubs of dying & diseased fat fools if something is not done...

Weird Al Yankovic - FAT


"We are not dealing with a scientific or medical problem, we're dealing with an enormous economic problem that, it is already accepted, is going to overwhelm every medical system in the world," said Philip James, the chairman of a global task force set up by medical organizations that deal with weight-related problems.

"This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world,"

stated Dr. Paul Zimmet, a public health & dietary ailment expert who is the chairman of the meeting.

Zimmet was not afraid to say that obesity already rivals or far surpasses bird flu & aids as health problems.

As the western world's agriculture subsidy programs build up rampant supplies of cheaper sugar based , processed foods & hydrogenated oils, access to & consumption rates of healthier, more balanced and now more expensive traditional plant based foods have declined. Sugar once considered a luxury, now is a staple in poor diets...


In China, for example, the rate of obesity has risen from almost zero in the 1980s to about 10 percent of the population in 2006 due to massive imports of cheap meat products, and soy and palm-based oils. This syndrome is becoming known as the "bloating of the poor" , and I'd say that my own observations here in the states might also verify this symptom of an ongoing class war.

Dr. Philip James, the British chairman of the International Obesity Task Force told the Associated Press

"The trade policies that are currently in play are those which subsidize and distort the market to make fats and sugars cheaper and fruits and vegetables more expensive."

In the US, supposedly the world's richest nation, we suffer from some of the highest rates of heart disease & diabetes. Over 30% of our population is obese, and many hi-density inner city low income areas have almost no access to fresh fruits & vegetables. Despite vegetables & other produce being recommended for consumption 5 times daily, many communities have none available for sale for several miles. The situation is so bad, that in Oakland Ca, neighborhood activists started their own People's Grocery service that drives into neglected neighborhoods loaded down with locally sourced produce to sell to residents.

Australian Broadcast Corp -
'Globesity' News Brief

In Denmark, the gov't took steps to ban the sale of food that contain industrially-produced trans fatty acids.

Danish professor Arne Arstrup explained "...within a year it was eliminated from the market but in the rest of the world if you eat McDonald's, you can still get amounts of trans fatty acids that will increase your risk dramatically," he said.

"But most Danish consumers are not even aware of it because it happened without any difference to taste, availability or price, so I think legislation can be extremely effective to protect the consumer."

High levels of Trans Fats occcur whenever hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils are used. This is a high tech process by which liquid fat is pressurized with hydrogen gas to form a more stable, solid state. The boon is to the producers so they can formulate partially solid fat (like margarine) or a hard fat (Stearic acid). The corporations gain the convienence of hugher frying temperatures & longer shelf life, at the sacrifice of human health... Creating a dangerous flip side to the whole reason we eat in first place.

In Short : Don't Be Stupid... avoid these foods when possible...

Because no matter whether someone says they are "big boned" or not... whether they stay that way is based on choices...

Stories about verifiable genetic links that can cause obesity have surfaced & provided hope for the hopelessly fat who make excuses that somehow it isn't all their own fault... But the jury is divided, because , although a fat gene predisposition does exist, it apparently is only present in about 1 out of every 100 fatties. The rest are likely just lazy, ignorant, fat and yes, get this... stupid.

Angry Samoans - My Old Man's A Fatso

Maybe I would just gauge this fact alone on a study last year that found 2/3rds of drivers of gas guzzling 4 Wheel Drive SUV's are overweight... but wait, there's even more new data.

Apparently, one new study of intelligence & obesity found children who show signs of being obese before age 11 actually have lower IQ's than other children at the same age, even their own less chubby siblings.

Concerted health & educational efforts must be made to reach the world's children who are especially at risk for the disastrous side effects of unbridled sugar & fat consumption... One thing that has alarmed observers is that the ailment once known as "adult onset diabetes" is increasingly seen in young people, some as young as 5 & 6.

Co-chair Kate Steinbeck, claimed

“This is the first generation in history where children may die before their parents.”

A report on Childhood Obesity is expected on Sept 13th in Washington D.C , in the auditorium of the National Academies building, 2100 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. The info will be delivered by a panel featuring childhood obesity researchers from universities in Texas, California & Georgia.

A live video webcast of the one hour briefing will be viewable at http://national-academies.org.

Another 30 year study showed that Japanese who stayed in Japan and ate the traditional Okinawan diet, never gained weight as they aged & lived in general to be a 100. Their relatives that went to America, well you can just imagine the unhealthy situation there... gout, coronary artery clogging, etc.

Overall Okinawans are eating a high calorie , but mostly plant based diet, that's higher in carbohydrates -- but they're good carbohydrates ... the kind that don't cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels.

Their diet features lotsa low-fat, water-rich and high-fiber foods, such as sweet potatoes, vegetables, whole-grains and beans, fruits, soy and fish, with limited amounts of lean meats.

Mitch Hedberg - Good Food, Bad Food

Here's some more tunes we could put on a compilation called "Now That's What I Call Heavy Music". I can just see our new late night tv ad with Richard Simmons leading bouncing, flouncing fat folks being lifted by cranes & national guardsmen out of their homes and onto the dancefloor... serious playas woulds have gold ice cream spoons on chains instead of dangling coke spoons around their necks...

Big Hits about Big Folks ... we all know there is a "huge" audience for this type of thang...

Corky Burke - Eating Is Fun, Eating Is Serious

New Birth Brass Band - Fat Boy

Dr. John - Food For Thot

Bobby Rush - Lovin' A Big Fat Woman

Antigone Rising - Fat Bottomed Girls

Squarepusher - Fat Controller (listen for the Trouble Funk sample)



A swinging Poison cover... from some of SF's swing meisters, who during the late 90's were regular's at joints like Bimbos & even The New York New York Casino in Vegas......

Download a track by The New Morty Show - "Unskinny Bop" (Poison)

(MP3, 192kbps)

from the release "Rigormorty"

The New Morty Show

• Buy at iTunes Music Store

Download Henry Turner Jr & Flavor - Fat Baby" (MP3, 192kbps)

from the 2004 release Louisiana Gumbo Combo

by relocated Nawlins funky blues & reggae performer Henry Turner Jr

courtesy
Blue Pie Productions

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody