Take the Heat Off of Trans Fats and Place it on Implementing Healthy Eating Programs in Schools

Trans fats have become the new diet devil dujour. New York City has banned them from restaurants, Dunkin Doughnuts announced they are removing them from their frying process, and the FDA now requires trans fat information on food labels. Trans fats can cause a variety of negative health problems of disorders, especially in relation to high cholesterol, blood pressure and heart problems. However, is banning them the answer to the ever expanding world obesity and diabetes problem?

Banning trans fats certainly helps eliminate them from our diets. Yet education is the key, because without education there is no understanding of the underlying problem. The real reason for the increase of heart disease and diabetes, amongst other things, in the world is the lack of exercise and too many people eating unhealthy diets. Just because Dunkin Doughnuts no longer uses trans fats does that make them all right to eat every day? No, they are still deep-fried sugar laden doughballs with no nutritional value whatsoever. Fried food is still a bad diet choice even when it's not fried in trans fats. The demon in our diet is not a specific type of fat, it's fat in general and poor choices specifically.

Instead of focusing so much time and attention on banning trans fat, communities should spend some of their effort and funds on educating children in the schools. They should also initiate healthier school lunch and breakfast programs and teach children from pre-school up how to make healthy choices. It's a proven fact that when children are offered healthy foods on a daily basis they eventually begin eating them and even liking them.

If city and state governments really want to make inroads in public health, they should offer healthy options in their employee cafeterias. Why not sponsor monthly cooking seminars on how to shop for and prepare healthy food? How about discounts for gym memberships but only if the employees scan in at the gym at least two or three times a week? There are a million ways to implement, promote, educate and actively demonstrate a healthier way of living to the community. Banning a certain ingredient as a scapegoat is just another political whitewash to "prove" that they're concerned with public health. It's time for all of us to step up to the plate, get rid of the fat on our own, and learn how to eat right. If not for ourselves, at least for the health of our children and grandchildren.