I Was Thinking... Why we’re fat

 
With the number of fitness facilities that have popped up over the last number of years, you would think Americans are in better shape than ever before. But maybe the abundance of workout places is rather a sign of just the opposite; we are in terrible shape and need lots of help. I do know one thing for sure: It is a lot harder to eat healthy than it is to load up on junk food.
When I was growing up, fast food establishments were in their infancy. The closest McDonald’s was 50 miles away in Green Bay. Burger King, Hardees, KFC, Taco Bell, Happy Chef, Wendy’s, Sonic, and Arby’s were only located in big cities. Now, McDonald’s and Subways are everywhere. You can travel from coast to coast and get all your meals to eat from a drive through. But fast-food establishments aren’t the only things that could be causing our increasingly obese society.
In addition to a plethora of fast-food restaurants, the next fastest growing franchise is the “dollar store.” While it started out as a place you could actually buy things for a dollar, that quickly changed. But these types of stores have popped up all across the country. Think of almost any small town in our area, and you will find one or more of these establishments.
I’ve been in several of these stores in different cities and found that they are almost all set up the same way. They offer a wide range of merchandise and have quite a selection of food choices. For a small town that has lost a lot of their businesses, they are welcomed additions. But their variety of choice seems to be heavily influenced by what we might call “junk food”. Recently, I decided to really take a close look at what was available and where it was located.
As I walked through the outer doors, I was greeted with a display of soda pop and Hostess snack cakes. The very first aisle to the right was completely stocked with a variety of chips. At the end of the aisle there were coolers. The first 8 contained a variety of mostly sugary drinks. The next three coolers had milk. The next aisle was filled to capacity with cookies and nuts. Around the corner were shelves filled from top to bottom with an assortment of drinks. None appeared to have anything that looked like a natural ingredient. These beverages had names like: Rockstar Recovery, Power Ade, Monster Energy, Red Bull, Killer Brew, and Body Armor.
I moved to the next aisle and found about a third of it containing bread, but the next two-thirds of it was stocked with candy. The next area was one-quarter coffee and one-eighth sugary creamers. The rest of this aisle contained some fruit juices and other types of artificial juices. The end cap of the aisle contained iced coffee containers, which contained 270 calories. The one across from it contained only sugary cereals. The next aisle had a small section for packaged teas, and the rest of it was pop. I did find a display for bottled water at the very back of the store. But they did have “real” food as well.
I found one aisle that had canned goods. There were soups, canned vegetables, tuna, pasta, and staples like peanut butter and jelly. But the rest of the aisle offered sweet chewy fruit snacks. As I moved back toward the front of the store, I encountered a center island of Little Debbie snacks. I rounded the corner to check out but had to pass two pop machines where I could pick up a can to go. Of course, right across from the check out counter was a huge display of candy.
While we can blame the high calorie fast-food restaurants or the abundance of “junk” food offerings at dollar stores for our increased waistline, it is still our choice of what we choose to eat. I’ll also have to admit, I just finished a small bag of Cheetos while writing this column.
Did You Ever Wonder? — Why do people order a double cheeseburger, a large fries, an apple pie, and diet Coke?