The Fayetteville Observer, N.C., Kim Hasty column

July 14--So, giving up sugar isn't as simple as just passing on dessert.

That realization has become obvious in the week that has passed since I sat in on a screening at the Cameo Art House Theatre of "Fed Up," a documentary about America's obesity epidemic.

The premise of the movie, brought to Fayetteville by Better Health of Cumberland County, is that the food industry is fooling us in much the same way the tobacco industry fooled us before 1971, when all broadcast advertising of tobacco products was banned.

"Everything we've been told about food and exercise for the past 30 years is dead wrong," the movie contends.

The movie and the slew of experts interviewed for it say that we are wrong in trying to fight America's obesity epidemic by eating less and exercising more.

Sugar, they say, is the real culprit. Particularly, the sugary sodas and processed foods we give our children.

"There are 600,000 food items in America," says Robert Lustig, professor of pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco. "Eighty percent of them have added sugar."

Anyone who thinks cutting out added sugar will be easy is in for a surprise. Sugar is in just about everything, from the obvious, kid-favorite Pop Tarts and breakfast cereals to the less-conspicuous spaghetti sauce and wheat bread.

Katherine Barnette, a registered dietitian from Cape Fear Valley Health, was part of a panel that briefly discussed the issue after the movie. She, along with Dr. Lenny Salzberg and cooking instructor Amy Zeleznik, offered a bit of practical advice.

Read labels and beware of products that list sugar -- or one of its 56 other names -- as an added ingredient. Fruit, for instance, contains sugar, but it occurs naturally, along with fiber.

"Cook together as a family," Salzberg said.

"I like to tell my patients that half their plates should be fruits and vegetables," Barnette said. "The rest should be a quarter lean meat and a quarter whole grains."

A good start, Barnette said, would be to make half your choices from foods that are not packaged.

Electric wheelchairs wanted

George Butterfly is looking for a few good electric wheelchairs.

Butterfly, a kind-hearted soul, has noticed a problem among retired veterans: Those who rely on wheelchairs are too often left to contend with the manual kind.

"It's too hot for them to be trying to get around in those," Butterfly said.

He said that insurance covers electric wheelchairs, but it can take up to eight months for the paperwork to clear after a wheelchair is ordered.

"They need them now," he said. "As long as we can ambulate, we can work through the pain."

Butterfly owns one wheelchair that is in constant demand. He loans it out, takes it back, refurbishes it, then loans it out again. He figures that just a few more would make a big difference.

"My goal is I would have five chairs up and running that I could loan out to vets," he said.

Plenty of electric wheelchairs are available for sale, but the owners are asking stiff prices for them.

Anyone with a wheelchair to donate can call Butterfly at 391-1945.

Community news editor Kim Hasty can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3591.

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