Trans fat: a harmful ingredient with unhealthy consequences

by Alexandra Mendoza

Each day, Americans are faced with a growing problem and a constant threat: obesity. It's seen from children as young as five or six up to adults, and the rates of adolescent obesity are surprisingly high. According to the American Obesity Association, 30.4 percent of adolescents, ages 12-19, are overweight. A ban on trans fat needs to be put in place to stop these rising statistics.
Trans fat has contributed a lot to these obesity statistics in recent years, and it's something that many Americans don't know exist in their cookies and chips they eat every day. WebMD has drawn the conclusion that trans fat is contained in about 40 percent of foods in grocery stores now. Each day, Americans eat liquid oils that have been turned into solid fats, just because it helps increase the shelf life and the taste of foods. Trans fat not only has no nutritional value, but it also raises a person's LDL cholesterol - otherwise known as the "bad cholesterol." Across the country, bans have been enacted to stop the use of these trans fats in food - which is the best solution we have to stop obesity and the high death rates that come with it.
At a time when obesity rates are so high, something needs to be done. Trans fat cannot benefit us in any way, so there is no need for it. A ban needs to be brought to the DC metro area, or at least Fairfax County Public Schools, to stop the obesity epidemic. There's no need to stuff young children full of unnecessary fats that will only hurt them in the long run.
Many people can do it, but it takes a lot of will power to go on a diet. Yes, maybe it's not the government's business to control what we eat, but someone needs to do it if we can't take it into our own hands. Children and teenagers just eat what they are given by their parents or by their school, and have little choice about what they are putting into their bodies and what is clogging their arteries. If Fairfax County Public Schools would ban trans fat then not only would we get healthier, we would lose more weight. Just 5.8 grams of trans fat - about one order of McDonalds medium French fries - accounts for 2.6 percent of our daily calorie intake. Cutting trans fat from foods will eliminate a fairly large part of the calorie intake, and in the end possibly prevent heart attacks and strokes. Nutritionists in the area need to start researching alternatives to trans fat, because it's definitely possible and obviously necessary to find a different way to make foods. The fast food chain Wendy's proved that trans fats can easily be reduced by simply switching to a different cooking oil. In the school pizza served here, there are 310 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 7 grams of saturated fats, which are similar to trans fats. Healthier choices are obviously available. Instead of pizza, why not a sub?
Of course, there's always the issue of free will. Junior Malik Kotob thinks there's no need for a ban. "It will hurt restaurants around the nation because it will change the taste of the food," Kotob said. Maybe. But what will hurt more - a change in the taste of food or a heart attack due to clogged arteries? Apparently the change in taste doesn't matter to many restaurants that are voluntarily dropping trans fat. Starbucks recently cut trans fat from their doughnuts and muffins in ten cities: Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Portland. They are planning on bringing the change to all Starbucks in the near future because trans fat causes such a large increase in bad cholesterol.
In New York, the city has gone far enough to actually put a ban on trans fat that will ban restaurants from using them by July 1 of this year. The city recognized the need for a ban like this, and it was a well-made decision.. If restaurants and schools can't do this on their own, the government
needs to take part, because obesity is something that can be prevented. First, we need to propose the idea to a delegate. If restaurants are given enough of a warning, it really should not be that hard to eliminate trans fat. Foods such as potato chips made in factories out of state will not be able to be controlled in grocery stores and other places where prepackaged foods are purchased, but if trans fat is banned in numerous areas
hopefully the whole country will follow the lead and ban trans fat. The health of our country is more important than the taste of food - which won't change that much, since bans on trans fat will only affect food that is prepared daily, not stored on shelves for long periods of time.
In the end, banning trans fat helps everyone. If one is not brought to the DC area, then it should definitely be brought into schools because there's no reason to jeopardize everyone's health for a little extra flavor in your muffin.

By Stephanie Axelrod |  March 23, 2007; 7:59 AM ET
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