0 Obesity's Toll, Healthy Eating Efforts, Food Day, and a Good-For-You Recipe, Too

Food has become all but a national obsession, with magazines touting diet after diet and newspapers headlining warnings about sugar, saturated, and trans fats. The pressure is on to eat well and slim down, and so, in January, Wal-Mart announced plans to reformulate thousands of its products, reducing sodium by 25%, cutting added sugars by 10%, and "removing remaining industrially produced trans fats." Prices will come down too-all this by 2015. As Bill Simon, CEO of Wal-Mart's U.S. Division, says, "No family should have to choose between food that is healthier for them and food they can afford."

Meanwhile, going into effect on March 12 is New York City's Mayor Bloomberg's ban on the sale of soda and other sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces. And to top all that, Disney has now promised to banish all junk food ads from its kid-friendly programming by 2015. Plus, the company's new food standards will allow no more than 600 calories in a complete meal and 200 in a side dish.

Despite all these healthy eating efforts and Michelle Obama's, too, however, we're still putting on the pounds. Currently, 1/3 of adults are overweight, and another 1/3 is obese. That translates to some 68.8% of us tipping the scales. Equally worrisome is the fact that about 33% of our children are either overweight or obese-a rate that has tripled over the past 30 years.

And the worst is apparently yet to come. A National Heart Forum study found that obesity rates will grow to at least 44% in every state by 2030. Moreover, says Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health, "Estimates on the cost of obesity-related illnesses vary from $147 billion a year to $210 billion a year. Those costs would increase by $48 billion to $66 billion in 2030 if the obesity rate climbs at the projected pace."

No wonder, then, that there is now a Food Day. Created by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, this time around it fell on October 24. Called "a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food," it aims to get all of us to "Eat Real," no matter our age or station in life.

Suggestions include making simple meals from scratch instead of relying on the ready-made sort we just pop in the microwave or oven. Do yourself a favor, too, by buying local from such farmers' markets. And to get you started on your healthy meals mission, try this easy, 15-minute prep recipe from registered dietitian, Gavi:

You'll need:

1 pack of mild Italian sausage-pork or chicken

12 frozen shrimp, thawed

2 cups of cooked instant rice

1 16-oz can of diced tomatoes

Dash of salt and pepper

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped pepper

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoon thyme

1 bay leaf

Hot sauce

How To Do It:

1. Cook the rice according to package instructions.
2. In a frying pan, brown the sausages. Once brown, cut into thick slices, place in a container and store in the fridge.
3. Thaw the shrimp by placing them under running, cool water until thawed. Peel shrimp if unpeeled and place in a container and store in the fridge.
4. In the slow cooker, place diced tomatoes, onions, peppers and seasonings. Set slow cooker on low for 6 hours (can be longer if you cannot be home).
5. After 6 hours, add shrimp and cooked sausage. Cook for an additional half hour.
6. Serve over the cooked rice. Add hot sauce to taste.

Enjoy and be very well.

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