Nutrition, Metabolism, and Diabetes

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 08.06.10

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Rationale
  3. Overview
  4. How Sweet Is It?
  5. Why Focus on High Fructose Corn Syrup?
  6. What Makes Kids Obese?
  7. Lessons
  8. Appendix A
  9. Appendix B
  10. Student Resources
  11. Teacher Resources
  12. Bibliography
  13. Endnotes

Childhood Obesity and High Fructose Corn Syrup. What Is It Good For? Absolutely Nothing!

Huwerl Thornton

Published September 2008

Tools for this Unit:

Why Focus on High Fructose Corn Syrup?

Michael Pollan in his excellent book The Omnivore's Dilemma weighs in on the issue of the rising obesity issue in the United States. He says in his book that since 1985, the average American's annual consumption of HFCS has gone from forty-five pounds to sixty-six pounds. As I stated earlier, HFCS had surpassed refined sugar consumption in this country. One would think that sugar consumption has gone down, but that hasn't happened. During the same period, American's consumption of refined sugar actually went up by five pounds! What does this mean? It means that we as Americans are eating and drinking a lot of HFCS on top of the sugars we were already consuming. Since 1985, America's consumption of all added sugars which includes sugar cane, beet, HFCS, glucose, honey, maple syrup, whatever, has climbed from 128 pounds to 158 pounds per person. 8

Pollan reveals that it is in soft drinks that Americans consume most of their sixty-six pounds of their dose of HFCS. Because children today are leading a more sedentary life style, it is even more important to look at the food that they are eating. Today, HFCS is used to sweeten many foods like jams, ketchup and soft drinks. It has also become a favorite ingredient in many health foods. Although I think that there are various factors that have contributed to the obesity of this country, I strongly believe that HFCS is one of the main contributing factors. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) released some interesting statistics in the Journal of American Medical Association. In 2004, 19 percent of boys and girls ages 6-11 were considered to be obese. In 1971, just 4 percent of kids in the same age range were considered obese. In the same time span, kids aged 12-19 jumped from 6.1 percent in 1971 to 17.4 percent in 2004. Children aged 2-5 had 5 percent considered obese in 1971 to 14 percent considered obese in 2004. When all of the children are included, it totals out to be 32 percent of American children are considered obese. This is a major concern.

Children who are obese are already starting to develop the illnesses that are associated with obese people in their 40's and beyond. Children are displaying heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, gallstones, joint breakdown, and even brain damage. 90% of obese children have at least one avoidable risk factor for heart disease, such as high cholesterol or hypertension. This is very alarming!

Carol Porter, the director of nutrition and food services at UC San Francisco sums it up best. "It's not that fructose itself is so bad, but they put it in so much food that you consume so much of it without knowing it." 9 This is the most important reason why I want my students to be knowledgeable about reading nutrition labels. HFCS mixes very easily, it extends shelf life and is as much as 20 percent cheaper than other sources of sugar. It can help prevent freezer burn, so it can be found on the labels of many frozen foods. It also helps breads brown and keeps them soft, which is why hot dog buns and even English muffins hold unexpected amounts. 10 So even if kids are eating a frozen dinner or hamburgers or hot dogs at home, they are consuming quantities of HFCS.

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