It's high calorie count, not trans fatty acids, that leads to obesity

The Asbury Park Press, October 12, 2006

As a registered dietitian, I feel compelled to offer state Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth, some much-needed professional advice about her plans to introduce a bill to ban partially hydrogenated oils from New Jersey's eateries.

Unfortunately, she seems to be as confused as the vast majority of Americans about the role of dietary fats in the rising incidence of obesity and chronic diseases. Since Karcher serves as vice chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee, I will try to clarify the key issues she needs to be aware of before proceeding with this bill in the hope she will enlighten her fellow committee members and, in turn, their constituents.

Karcher is correct that the trans fatty acids found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils have been shown to increase the risk of developing heart disease. They do not, however, cause childhood obesity and diabetes, as was attributed to her in the Asbury Park Press. It is also important to note that trans fats are naturally found in most meats and dairy foods, although the bulk of the trans fats consumed by Americans comes from deep fat fried foods and packaged cookies, chips, crackers and bakery cakes, pies and pastries.

As of January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has required the inclusion of the trans fat content on the "nutrition facts" panel of all packaged foods, so most food companies have found a replacement for the partially hydrogenated oils they were using to avoid exposing their trans fat content on their labels. While many of these reformulated products have little or no trans fat in them, they are still being made with fat. Herein lies the problem.
No matter what kind of fat a food is prepared with or fried in, it is the calories supplied by fats and oils that can contribute to obesity, the precursor to virtually all of the chronic diseases afflicting young and old in this country. Diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, sleep apnea and "you name it," as Karcher was quoted as saying, are all linked to excess body weight. It does not matter whether someone becomes obese by over-eating very healthy, organic, all-natural foods or a diet made up solely of fast foods. Once you have exceeded your caloric requirements, your body will begin to store more fat in the fat cells, and that is the trigger to our rising morbidity.

So Karcher and other legislators around the country busy writing bills aimed at banning specific foods and ingredients from the American diet have missed the mark when it comes to controlling obesity. Fruit juice has as many calories as soda, a granola bar has as many calories as a candy bar and "good" fats have as many calories as "bad" fats. So it was irresponsible for Karcher to say, "You can still go eat your French fries" and "You can still eat your cookies" once a replacement is used for the partially hydrogenated oils.

A healthy diet is all about what you do eat. If and when people do eat what our dietary guidelines recommend we should eat every day, there would be no need to ban anything. Sales for these so-called "problem" foods would drop like a hot potato as people begin snacking on fresh fruit and ordering baked chicken instead of fried. As a result, food manufacturers would eagerly develop new offerings that do fit into our healthy dietary preferences, and everyone wins.

An equally important aspect of the escalating rate of obesity around the world is inactivity. Do keep in mind the incidence of obesity is increasing on every continent - even in developing countries where the populations have no cookies and chips containing trans fats or vending machines in the schools or fast-food restaurants at every intersection. Maybe Karcher should be looking more closely at how we can provide safe playgrounds in every neighborhood in the state.

Obesity is figuratively and literally a huge problem and, sadly, there are no easy solutions. Working to ban trans fats is a distraction, at best, from the enormity of the challenge we face. May our legislators put their energies and talents to better use if we are to have any hope of tackling this problem.

Robyn Flipse
NUTRITION COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
BRADLEY BEACH