It is with journalistic and scientific dismay that I read ”Healthy foods list brings out the devil`s food in kids” on the front page of the Tribune Aug. 5.
This article discusses a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest that advocated a diet of primarily unprocessed foods and also listed 100 of the best processed foods, especially for kids. Unfortunately, as written, it could have appeared on the Op-Ed page with other opinion pieces rather than in a prominent position in the news section.
A more factual article on the same subject, ”Appealing junk foods blamed for fat kids,” appeared in your Aug. 4 issue.
”Healthy foods list” was simply an editorial in disguise. Note just two examples: ”. . . the only pizzas on the list had names that would make you not care whether the delivery guy made it in 30 minutes or less, or even at all;” and ”Parents and children in the Chicago area Tuesday offered a rousing `to hell with it` to the list. . . .”
A balanced article would have included comments from consumers who explain why they do eat non-processed food.
Mention might have been made of the mounting evidence against processed food. As a co-drafter of Illinois Public Law 87784 that licenses dietitians and nutritionists, and as a science writer and former department head of a hospital, I am aware of numerous articles in peer-reviewed medical journals that link highly processed foods with degenerative diseases and warn that poor eating habits are formed in infancy and in childhood.
This information has become mainstream. The Time magazine April 6 cover story, ”Real power of vitamins: New research shows why they may help fight cancer, heart disease and the ravages of aging,” stated: ”. . . no, (even in a good diet) you may not be getting enough of these crucial nutrients in your diet.”
The typical processed American diet is not just a national problem. In a Tribune article, Oct. 14, 1990, ”In Japan fast food is fast becoming a health hazard,” it was reported that the Japanese shift to a Western diet in 1959 is now out of hand. Prominent Japanese nutritionists state that ”millions of affluent young people are committing suicide by forsaking traditional Japanese fare for Western fast food.”
Health care costs are increasing geometrically. One would hope that reports such as the one from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which discuss inexpensive, simple and readily available health options, would be covered more positively or, at the very least, more factually.
