Blond, thin, desired, and by all accounts – a specimen of health – Jenny McCarthy has most recently used her celebrity status to call attention to what she considers to be an epidemic of Autism amongst children in the US. During the past six years, the Centers for Disease Control, lead by Dr. Julie Gerberding, has been criticized for making little mention of this supposed epidemic, nor of the studies linking childhood vaccinations and diet to the disease. McCarthy has said that “…Gerberding has stood by and watched self-interested parties more than triple our vaccine schedule and I’m certain her inactivity to help our kids will continue.”

Everyone’s got an agenda! And I can’t say that I blame McCarthy.

While healthcare is an issue at the forefront of the 2008 US election, discussions of obesity as a chronic illness worthy of attention seem lost. After all, with the economy in turmoil and the price of oil rising to new heights, there are more pressing issues. Some Americans feel outrage at the reported $6 billion dollars a month being spent to fight an endless war in Iraq.

What seems lost in any conversation, however, is that according to the Centers for Disease Control, the current monthly costs of obesity-related illnesses in the US are approximately $9.75 billion!

The medical community supports the prevention of obesity, but these measures are not as lucrative as curative practices, such as prescriptions for appetite suppression and surgery. Commercial weight loss programs capitalize on the phenomenon of yo-yo dieting, and continually offer a new market spin on what is ultimately predictable diet failure.

If autism is on the rise, and obesity is costing us more than this war – with fatalities from related illnesses far outnumbering any casualties in Iraq – then perhaps the Centers for Disease Control is not having much luck ‘controlling’? Perhaps it is time to rethink health prevention, and in whose authority we entrust our health. In God We Trust is the official national motto of the United States; is that enough?

Autism, or obesity – there is cause for alarm, and mainly – that no one is sounding it!

On Monday, March 10th, Jenny McCarthy appealed to the US public to call the White House’s Comment Department and ask President & Laura Bush to demand Julie Gerberding’s resignation for incompetence during the autism epidemic. The White House switchboard can be reached at: 202-456-1414.

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