{"id":7563,"date":"2010-05-14T08:20:31","date_gmt":"2010-05-14T12:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=7563"},"modified":"2015-12-28T05:21:21","modified_gmt":"2015-12-28T10:21:21","slug":"dharma-intiative-style-labeling-could-prevent-obesity-and-type-2-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=7563","title":{"rendered":"DHARMA Initiative Style Labeling Could Prevent Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I took my sons for routine blood tests this week, and given that they are the offspring of two type 1 diabetics<\/a>, you can imagine the fears in the back of my mind.\u00a0 Their fasting blood glucose levels came back normal (thankfully), but what I found myself thinking about -surprisingly- when I looked over their results was – what if they had type 2 diabetes?\u00a0 I always have type 1 diabetes on my mind because I know they may have a genetic predisposition to it.\u00a0 But I don’t think it’s much of stretch to say that all of us eating a Western diet are predisposed to type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

I do make an effort to keep my sons away from processed foods, soda, and junk food in general. I’m far from a tyrant about it, though.\u00a0 And whenever they (or I) eat junk, I wish we weren’t eating it. But it’s everywhere, and sometimes -no matter how strong your will – it’s unavoidable.\u00a0 So the question is, what will deter us from eating garbage food?\u00a0 What can I do to keep my sons from wanting the food products that increase their risk for obesity and\/or type 2 diabetes?<\/p>\n

I touched on this subject in a post about whether Ronald McDonald<\/a> should be forced into retirement.\u00a0 And I’ve written before about why I’m not a fan of soda tax<\/a>.\u00a0 I think that America\u2019s obesity (and diabetes) problem runs so deep that pointing a finger here or there isn\u2019t going to solve anything. Soda is junk, but so is sugary cereal.\u00a0 So are a thousand other products.\u00a0 I don’t see small tax increases in these products, like 12 cents on a can of soda, as a real solution.\u00a0 When it comes to a cigarette tax, however, I find myself feeling differently.<\/p>\n

Recently I’ve been reading about Australia’s 25% tax increase on cigarettes<\/a>.\u00a0 This tax hike raised the price of cigarettes by $2 a box, which is enough, I believe to curb some cigarette purchases.\u00a0 And moreover, as of July 1, 2012, cigarette packs in Australia will have no logos, color or font variation.\u00a0 Each pack will bear the brand name and a graphic photo depicting the gruesome consequences of smoking like images of fat oozing out of blocked aortas, or rotting gums, or cancerous lungs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reading about this made me think that plain packaging laws might be a real solution for the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic in America.\u00a0 Think of those DHARMA Initiative food containers on Lost<\/a>.\u00a0 If you weren’t stranded on an island, would you eat what’s in them?\u00a0 No!\u00a0 You’d never pay attention to them on a supermarket shelf. \u00a0 If you had a choice, you’d choose the colorful, cheerful food boxes – the ones with pictures of attractive people, attractive food, or words like healthy and delicious <\/em>written on them (even if they aren’t).\u00a0 I’d do the same.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Of course, there are a million drawbacks to the idea of plain packaging laws.\u00a0 I’m not about to raise a case for it here.\u00a0 But I do think that it’s something that really could make an impact.\u00a0 Imagine a plain white box with words Nabisco Chocolate Chip Cookies<\/em> written on it in black print, and nothing more.\u00a0 Not so exciting, right?\u00a0 But wait… happens if you see a box labeled Swedish Fish<\/em>.\u00a0 Is there chewy candy or herring inside?<\/p>\n

If we think about the Australian model of using gruesome photos on cigarette boxes, I say -in the case of junk food – that’s going way too far.\u00a0 I think the shock effect wears off pretty quickly and we’d all stop noticing the ugly photo.\u00a0 Or worse, it could have a Pavlovian effect<\/a>.\u00a0 Every time our kids saw a picture of diseased tissue, they might start to drool for candy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[20,230,786],"yoast_head":"\nDHARMA Initiative Style Labeling Could Prevent Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes | ASweetLife<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Australia's plain package cigarette laws might be a solution for the diabetes epidemic in America. 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