Sonic

What is the obsession with Sonic fast food restaurants? In the city of St Joseph, there are 5 Sonic restaurants! Do we really need that many? The number of drive-thru restaurants in our small region is remarkable. Rather, it is appalling.

It is no surprise that fast food and obesity are directly linked. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to look around our community to see that our citizens have a problem. In fact, our neighboring largely-populated cities (St Louis and Kansas City) have routinely made the "cities with the highest rating of obesity" list released by the American Obesity Assn. This rating is not an award. It is not something to be proud of.

Today I am met with a dilemma. How can I help change the notion that regular visits to Sonic are okay? It is like asking kids to give up their candy. Virtually impossible, one would say. However, there are solutions. And, like almost every other topic, it starts with education.

1. Offer cooking classes. Not at the college, but through a city/county/state-sponsored program that will offer free or at least reduced courses on how to make practical, real-life, un-gourmet snacks and meals.
2. Promote a healthy lifestyle. Uh... anyone hear the sound of change coming? It's time to suck it up and build and/or maintain sidewalks or bike lanes. Time to warmly embrace physical activities. A community center that offers racquetball, basketball, basically any indoor sport would THRIVE (year-round activity, folks).
3. Condone smoking and other poor health vices.
4. Start in school. Offer a health class. Not just sex ed here, folks. Actual discussion about the food pyramid, making healthy choices, the effects of those choices, physical education (not just running around the gym) to include the positive effects of exercising one's heart, lungs, muscles, etc; and also basic hygiene.

Obviously parents aren't stepping up to the plate to educate their children. And I believe it is extremely difficult to teach adults new tricks, but if we start now, we can change the predictions for obesity in our area.

Let's put pressure to halt or at least slow the addition of more fast food restaurants.

Let's put pressure on those who are overweight to make a lifestyle change. It is NOT okay to be overweight. It is NOT okay to eat out consistently.

Healthy is the new "in" thing.