Step aside tobacco; food may be the number one killer

My friend Matt Grace was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord degeneration and was basically told that he would never walk again. After he healed himself, Matt wrote a great book called "A Way Out."

In his book, written in 2000, Matt says, "Food companies are responsible for millions of deaths per year and tens of millions of obese citizens; I really do not understand the difference between Phillip Morris and any of these companies that sell such deadly products. Do you?"

In August, 2007, a new presidential report on cancer takes on the food industry along with the tobacco industry and says that the federal government "must cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods that lead to disease and increased health care costs."

"Ineffective policies, in conjunction with limited regulation of sales and marketing in the food and beverage industry, have spawned a culture that struggles to make healthy choices -- a culture in dire need of change," said the report, available on the Internet at http://pcp.cancer.gov

The report includes regulation of food advertising and changing agricultural support policies, it states:

"We heavily subsidize the growth of foods (e.g., corn, soy) that in their processed forms (e.g., high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated corn and soybean oils, grain-fed cattle) are known contributors to obesity and associated chronic diseases, including cancer."

Yet fresh fruits and vegetables are not subsidized in the same way.

Our children are also suffering with obesity, cancer, adult onset diabetes and heart disease.

The report states that the federal government should "require the elimination of unhealthy foods from school breakfast and lunch programs" and recommends reinstating physical education classes.

The report also encourages doctors to spend more time counseling patients on how to stay healthy by eating right, exercising and avoiding tobacco.

Several reports have shown that a third of all cancers are caused by obesity and inactivity.

The American Cancer Society predicts more than 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and that 559,650 will die. Most of these cases could be prevented.

Hey Matt, seven years later and they are finally giving us the same message you did.