Dear [George Bush -OR- John Kerry],Unhealthy eating and physical inactivity are leading causes of death in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, unhealthy eating and inactivity cause at least 400,000 deaths each year by contributing to obesity, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Indeed, for non-smokers, poor diet and inactivity are the major causes of preventable death. With two-thirds of Americans overweight or obese, we need to give people a fighting chance at eating better and maintaining a healthy weight.
If you are elected president, I urge you to implement policies that make it easier for people to eat well. I am particularly interested in how you stand on the following three issues:
I urge you to support these policies and look forward to your reply. For more information I encourage you to visit the Center for the Science in the Public Interest's website at: www.cspinet.org
- While childhood obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in teens over the last two decades, many of our nation's schools raise funds by selling soda and other low-nutrition foods to children. Soft drinks and snack foods are key sources of the extra calories that are fueling the rising obesity rates. They also can displace healthier foods, like low-fat milk and juice, from the diet. Unlike foods served as part of the National School Meals Programs, those foods are not regulated. If elected, would you support efforts to give the U.S. Department of Agriculture authority to set nutrition standards and limit the sale of junk food from vending machines, snack lines, fund-raisers, and other school venues?
- Eating out is a growing part of the diets of most Americans. Yet, unlike in supermarkets, where most foods are required to have nutrition labels, few restaurants provide nutrition information (with the exception of some chain restaurants that have hard-to-use pamphlets or inconvenient websites). As a result, people may be getting more calories, fat, and salt than they realize. Providing clear, easy-to-use nutrition information at fast-food and other chain restaurants would help people make healthier choices. Such information would be a boon to the millions of people who watch what they eat to manage medical conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. If elected, would you support legislation that would require fast-food and other chain restaurants to list calorie counts on menu boards and calories, saturated plus trans fat, and sodium on printed menus?
- Americans' health is at great risk from clogged arteries, heart disease, and early death due to the use of partially hydrogenated oils (PHO). Although small amounts of trans fat occur naturally in beef and dairy foods, most trans fat comes from PHOs. The Institute of Medicine recommends that people minimize their consumption of trans fat in order to reduce their risk of heart disease. The Food and Drug Administration warns that trans fat is responsible for thousands of deaths each year--some of which could be prevented if trans fat were removed from the food supply. If elected, would you support legislation or regulations to remove artificially produced trans-fats from the food supply?
signed,
[YOU]