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Black Americans and healthy eating (272 hits)

I see in Los Angeles that they are trying to do away with fast food resturants. Do we lack so much personal responsibility that we cannot just say no to fast food and we need to be policed in order to get us to eat healthy? I take it as an insult when a measure like this has to be taken in order to cut down on obesity and unhealthy eating. Black americans have long known the health risk for our ethnic group and we should take active roles on our own to preserve our health and bodies. Excercise does not begin and end at the gym. Do any physical activity to get yourself moving. Gardening, walking with the kids, bicycling, dancing, etc. We have become lazy with so much convience available to us, lets get back out there and live.

Posted By: Karen Ratliff
Wednesday, July 30th 2008 at 8:50AM
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I'm not sure if everyone is lazy. If there is not money to join a gym or some other type of activity, walking in the hood could be hazardous to your health. Between the dogs, drug transactions, etc. People don't go outside unless they have to. Also, in urban areas it is very difficult to get to a supermarket. You may have to pay to get there and back since there are usually few markets. If you don't have a car its a problem. We have to be responsible but look at how they constantly bombard folks with commercials to buy that stuff. So its about education and accessibility.
Wednesday, July 30th 2008 at 9:26AM
Hisani DuBose

I think it's a matter of priorities. I agree that in many areas, it is difficult to get a healthy meal at an affordable price. But we need to make it important to us. We may need to sacrifice on convenience by planning our meals, shopping ahead, and cooking at home.

In many homes it's common to eat fast food 4 or 5 days out of a week. At the same time people are less able to exercise - because of work, home responsibilities, or simply not having a safe, convenient place to get out and get active.

I'm not surprised to see something like this going on in LA, where there's always a push for more government intrusion into our lives. We can't legislate our way to good decisions, we have to simply accept responsibility for making them.

Think about your friends and family... if you were to tell them you're going for a walk and invite them to join you, would they look at you like you're crazy? We need to get over that mentality... we're losing generations of people and billions of dollars to preventable illness.
Wednesday, July 30th 2008 at 9:57AM
Jon C.

Hisani,
You listed the excuses people use to continue to live off fast food. I simply do not want my choices limited because of those who cannot control themselves when it comes to unhealthy habits. I like fast food, but I know my and my families limitations and that is a choice.
Wednesday, July 30th 2008 at 9:59AM
Karen Ratliff