BORN 2 BREAK THE RULES



Maybe they are right - I Googled "fat woman reading food labels"
and only skinny women showed up!!

 There are so many times I read things about fat people, being fat, statistics about obesity, etc. and all I can think of is - not me.  Why is it pretty much every time there is some generalization about fat people, I am outside it?  And, frequently, my skinny sisters are inside it?  I am such a rule breaker.

The new one I read today: 

Ladies Who Read The Nutrition Labels On Food Weigh Less Than Those Who Don’t

Sorry researchers - not this fat lady.  I ready labels top to bottom like they were novels.  My skinny sister does not.

Read further and you know what the big difference is between the fatties who read the labels and the super smart, slim people who don't?   Eight pounds.  Yep.  A BMI difference of  1.49.  Woo-hoo!

Actually, when I read the label on the "good" wheat bread my sister thought she was buying, I pointed out how high the carbs were indicating all the sugar in the bread and she did admit it tastes sweet and that she should read the label beyond whole wheat.  True story.

We can all do with more education on nutrition, but reading labels is only as good as the understanding of nutrition and the accuracy of the labelling itself, which is not so good:

...the law allows a pretty lax margin of error—up to 20 percent—for the stated value versus actual value of nutrients. In reality, that means a 100-calorie pack could, theoretically, contain up to 120 calories and still not be violating the law. The same margin of error goes for other nutrients as well, which doesn't bode well for diabetic carb counters, folks with high blood pressure who are watching sodium intake, or moms looking to boost the iron content of their babies' diets. The FDA has never established a systematic, random label-auditing process, and compliance with the law is expected to be self-enforced by food manufacturers.

Research that, Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  Maybe you government agencies could get together and, ya know, do something useful. Like get the manufacturers to get real with the labels, and the schools to teach current nutritional information and not ye old food pyramid.