Lesson of the day: Eat smart and be healthy

Healthy eating could go a long way toward solving America's obesity epidemic, if people would only give it a try.

That's the message behind efforts by nutritionists and health care experts to enlighten and educate Americans, millions of whom struggle with their weight.

While voluminous research attests to the documented hazards of a steady diet of junk food, it all boils down to five simple words:

You are what you eat.

Put lots of fat-filled, calorie-laden food in your body, and it's going to show - in obesity and all its unpleasant side effects.

It's no coincidence that Americans are plagued by obesity-related health problems which strain the health care system and cost enormous sums of wealth to treat.

Unfortunately, persuading people to change the way they think about the food they eat is a tough sell. Taste is everything. It's been drilled into the mind by relentless advertising, pop culture and tradition.

Why not use the brains in our heads to find a smarter way?

It's so much better to prevent obesity from taking hold in the first place. That's why we're gratified to see local schools promoting healthier eating among students.

Once such example happened last week in a foods class at Dixon High School. A registered dietitian spent two days demonstrating how health-conscious ingredients could be substituted for traditional ingredients in a muffin recipe. Students made muffins both ways and tasted the difference. While their taste buds favored the traditional recipe, at least their minds were introduced to the healthier recipe.

We hope the concept eventually clicks and individuals learn to choose foods by how they can benefit one's body rather than strictly on taste alone.

Exercise goes hand-in-hand with controlling one's weight. Since some schools with financial problems may have reduced or eliminated physical education classes, it's even more important to educate young people on healthy eating and encourage good habits.

Students who don't think obesity can happen to them should realize that most obese people thought the same thing. Ask obese people if they originally set out to gain weight and they'll say no. Ask them if they'd rather be slim again and they'll say yes. Who wouldn't want to look and feel better?