THE XX FILES: Fighting the war on obesity

 You can't say that we aren't aware of the current state of poor health in America.

 Mainstream journalists such as Mark Bittman and Michael Pollan, and even literary writer Jonathan Safran Foer, have joined the ongoing conversation about it. They advocate for more transparency in food production and publicly criticizing factory farming and the consumption of processed foods that seem to form the basis of American food production and culture.

You can't say, either, that we haven't tried to remedy this unhealthy situation. 

Mandatory calorie counts on menus, bans on trans-fat and junk food, proposed reductions of salt in restaurant and packaged foods and proposed taxes on soda have entered communities as local efforts to alter our diets.

Michelle Obama's recently launched anti-obesity campaign is another concrete step toward a fitter America.

According to Obama, everyone from the federal government down to local officials and businesses should collaborate for a gradual improvement of America's health. 

With Congressional approval, the "Let's Move" campaign would provide $25 million for schools to renovate their kitchens in order to serve more nutritious food to students, $10 billion for the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act and $400 million in tax credits and other incentives to persuade grocery chains to move into "food desert communities" where, in the absence of major grocery stores, locals are forced to rely on convenience stores and fast food restaurants for meals.

The program does not seem like wishful conversation, contrived sighing or routine hand-wringing at an issue that has hung over America for years. 

With its outlined objectives, specified budgets, development by Obama — who has prioritized nutrition since her family's move into the White House — and support from pediatricians, children's TV networks and even the New York Yankees, "Let's Move" could be the long-awaited spark for substantial, permanent change. 

And if it is truly successful, the campaign could, as Obama ambitiously speculated, eliminate childhood obesity in a generation.

The campaign differs from previously proposed health initiatives by addressing both eating and exercise habits specifically in children — a goal that could be its biggest challenge.

Obesity does affect children. 

Defined by high body mass index, the condition ranges from about 10 percent in infants and toddlers to about 18 percent in adolescents and teenagers, according to the Center for Disease Control. 

Schools, where children spend most of their time throughout the year and where they consume about 30 to 50 percent of their calories, serve as an easy, obvious forum for addressing the issue.

But a truly effective campaign for better health must acknowledge that adults, too, are affected by the condition: an estimated 32 percent of adult men and 35 percent of adult women are obese, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

Adults who may serve as dietary role models for children cannot expect or demand changes from younger ones if they are not willing to evaluate and adjust their own lifestyles.

In fact, adults must begin to take responsibility for children's eating habits before they are born. A study published in The Journal of Physiology revealed that mothers' consumption of food during pregnancy and shortly thereafter influences their babies' food preferences. 

In short, babies enjoy flavors to which they have already been exposed and, by extension, can reasonably be taught to prefer healthier foods.

As children grow older, adults must give them the ability and resources to be pro-active in their own nutritional choices. Banning foods can only do so much: at best, it prevents the "problem foods" from entering children's bodies at all. 

At worst, it creates a stigma toward certain foods and fosters an overall unhealthy relationship with eating.