Texas Too Fat: New Legislation Aims To Slim Down Lone Star State

According to statistics from the CDC, Texas is just too fat. 1 in 3 of us are considered "obese." Now, new Texas legislation is looking to fix that problem.

I do feel like I should stand up for us a bit, as the findings are based on Body Mass Index (BMI), which is notoriously bad at considering factors like build and muscle mass when determining if a person if truly fat or not.

However, there is no denying that when you see your fellow Texans en masse, some of them do carry quite a bit extra of said mass. I say this as someone who was nearly Class 2 obese last year and who now is right at the tippy-top of the range for  "healthy weight."  I still have some work to do.

And when I think about how I got fat, I absolutely recognize it started with bad habits as a child. My weight fluctuated a lot, but I mostly stayed slim only because I was constantly walking around. I ate classic '90s garbage food with wild abandon.

How The State Of Texas Seeks To Help Correct The Obesity Epidemic

Obesity is an expensive problem for the state, as our weight directly affects our health. If we want fewer people dying of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes, we have to slim down.

Senate Bill 25, a.k.a. "Make Texas Healthy Again," will use a three-pronged approach to curbing obesity in Texas if it is passed, which I believe it will be, as it was designated as a "priority" by Lt. Gov Dan Patrick. '

KWTX has a great synopsis of the "pillars" of this bill, which I will paraphrase here.

Pillar 1: Transparent Labeling Of Foods In Texas

This would require food labelling to clearly disclose certain ingredients, including chemicals, additives, and substances that are banned in other countries. Think: artificial colorings and flavorings, etc.

Pillar 2: Mandatory Physical Education In Texas

Children would be required to get 30 minutes of physical activity a day, and physical activity could not be revoked from children for discipline reasons.

Pillar 3: Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee

A volunteer group of seven medical/ nutritional experts would advise on nutritional guidelines for the state, which would "de-link the people on the advisory committee from the food industry and from the pharmaceutical industry," according to Senator Lois Kolkhorst, the bill's primary sponsor.

I think all of these ideas are good ones and hard to argue with (unless you own a factory that makes chemical food additives).

In case you're wondering how I achieved a "healthy weight," I majorly cut back on alcohol, controlled my portions, and am on an "added sugar" sabbatical. The next step is to completely forgo processed foods, like the ones that may soon require a big warning label thanks to this potential (and likely) new law.