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Contributors
Carol Platt Liebau - Columnist
Carol
Platt Liebau is editorial director and a senior member of tOR and CRO editorial
boards. She is an attorney, political analyst and commentator
based in San Marino, CA, and has appeared on the Fox News
Channel, MSNBC, CNN, Orange County News Channel, Cox Cable
and a variety of radio programs throughout the United States.
A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School,
Carol Platt Liebau also served as the first female managing
editor of the Harvard Law Review. Her web log can be found
at CarolLiebau.blogspot.com
[go to Liebau index]
 A
Cosmetic Crusade Against Girl Scout Cookies
...And Some Real Discussion About Childhood Obesity
[Carol
Platt Liebau] 3/21/05
No doubt
in an effort to raise our awareness of another important health
news story, the mainstream media has alerted us that “critics” are
attacking . . . the Girl Scouts. Well, not the Girl Scouts
exactly – just their cookies.
One of the “critics” is Michael Jacobson, the executive
director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (those
friendly folks who report on the artery-clogging propensities
of every delicious junk food ranging from movie popcorn to Mexican).
Jacobson insists that there must be a “healthier alternative” to
the Girl Scout cookies.
The other critic, a New York chef named Ann Cooper,
insists, “We’re
in the midst of an obesity pandemic and for children who are
overweight – [with obesity and diabetes – it’s
unbelievable. And here we have a group that sells hundred of
millions of cookies.”
Well. There’s really no dispute that we are confronting
a troubling upsurge in childhood obesity. Two-thirds of American
adults are overweight or obese – and rates are climbing
even faster in children. Some experts believe that today’s
metastasizing childhood obesity could actually result in a decline
in life expectancy for Americans over the next decades to come.
So there’s no doubt something needs to be done to encourage
children to eat healthfully and engage in exercise (you know, “play”).
But is it really helping the “cause” to condemn the
Girl Scout cookie – the biggest source of funding for an
organization that is committed to promoting “strong values,
leadership skills, social conscience, and conviction about their
own potential and self-worth” among young girls?
And in an age when many also identify an epidemic
of eating disorders among young women, is it really wise to
send the message
that, while some foods are “good,” others are so “bad” that
they ought to be banned? Might this not present an optimal moment
for teaching about the virtues of moderation and portion control,
instead?
In the end, this silly, manufactured controversy
about Girl Scout cookies – whatever its outcome – does little
to shed any light on the real issue. It’s not how children
get fat (pretty much the same way adults do!), but why. And for
some provocative but well-reasoned answers on that score, check
out Mary Eberstadt’s new book, Home Alone America. There,
building on this
Policy
Review article from February of 2003, she points out that
the upsurge in child obesity actually correlates well with the
exodus of mothers from the home to the workplace.
Eberstadt notes (and backs with research) the
fact that children spend more time on the computer or watching
television when their
mothers aren’t around. Simple exercise for children is
more difficult to ensure when the children are in daycare – where,
as Eberstadt points out, snacks are a given, but exercise is
an option. Even breastfeeding during the first year of life – virtually
impossible for many working mothers, who are back at the job
within three months of giving birth – has been proven to
reduce the likelihood of obesity later in life. And it’s
intuitively obvious that children are likely to eat more – and
to eat less healthfully – when there’s no adult around
to cast a watchful eye on after-school snacking.
Obviously, many mothers work – not because they want to – but
because they feel that they have to. Equally obvious is the fact
that there is a certain genetic component to certain children’s
tendency to carry extra weight.
But one thing’s certain: The difficult and growing problem
of childhood obesity can’t be solved (or even intelligently
addressed) through cosmetic crusades against institutions like
the Girl Scout cookie. And those who actually care about remedying
the child obesity problem – rather than simply seeing their
faces on television – understand the importance of listening
to people like Eberstadt, who are willing to look for the causes
of the epidemic, rather than simply supplying facile, and superficial “responses” to
it.
A meaningful debate on the causes of and solutions
for child obesity – now that would be a real story. Too bad it’s
just not good television. tOR
Columnist
Carol Platt Liebau is a political analyst, commentator and
theOneRepublic / CaliforniaRepublic.org editorial
director based in San Marino, CA. Ms. Liebau also served
as the first female managing editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Her web log can be found at CarolLiebau.blogspot.com
copyright
2005
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