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American Morning
Interview With Tommy Thompson
Aired January 22, 2003 - 07:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to talk food. More and more Americans are super sizing it, and that could be the reason why there is an obesity epidemic. A new report says that portion sizes are getting bigger not only when we eat out, but we seem to match the portions at home. And that increases the risks of heart disease and stroke.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson joins us this morning from Washington to talk about a new initiative to help prevent obesity and asthma and diabetes.
And he joins us now.
Good to see you, Mr. Secretary.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
SEC. TOMMY THOMPSON, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Well, good morning, Paula.
Let me just start off by thanking you for bringing this very vital issue to the forefront of the American public. It is badly needed and I just want to say thank you.
ZAHN: Well, it is something we spend a lot of time talking about. Lord knows, you look at the sales of diet books across the country, it seems just about every ploy people have used to lose weight. It's not working. If that's not working, what can the government do that's going to make any difference?
THOMPSON: Well, first off, we have to alert every American just to how serious the problem is. A hundred and twenty-five million Americans are suffering from a chronic illness. 1.7 million Americans die each year as a result of chronic illnesses. We spend $117 billion a year on obesity, $100 billion on diabetes and $150 billion a year on tobacco smoking related illnesses.
All of these point up to the fact that we have to do something about it. And obesity happens to be one of the crucial points in which we can do something about.
We have to get people alerted. Number two, we have to get the government more involved. We have to get the publicity out there. We have to get cities to compete with each other to become healthy cities. We're going to put money into at least 12 cities across America and designate them as healthy cities so they can show the incidence of diabetes and asthma and more walking paths, to be able to reduce diabetes and asthma and other chronic illnesses.
This is something all of us have got to be involved in and I thank you for your involvement.
ZAHN: Well, Mr. Secretary, when you talk about targeting these individual communities, what kind of incentive are members of that community going to have to lose weight?
THOMPSON: Well, what we have to do is first off we alert people to do it, just the way C. Everett Koop was able to alert the nation about the evils and the problems of tobacco smoking. We have to start talking to people about how individuals are going to adversely impact their health and how it's going to reduce their quality of life unless they do something about it.
Then we're going to put money from the federal treasury into certain cities across America who are going to compete. And they're going to compete on the basis of how they've been able to reduce the incidence of diabetes and asthma, how they're able to develop more walking trails. Because all the evidence points out that if you walk 30 minutes a day five days a week, reduce 10 to 15 pounds, reduce your calorie intake, you will lead a much healthier and a much better quality of life. And that's something that all of us can do and all of us can have an impact on a better healthy America.
ZAHN: You and I both have attended some of the same cancer forums and there are people within the cancer community who feel very strong that now that we know the majority of cancers are preventable, that the only way you get this message to the American public is through PSAs and scaring the heck out of them. And as you and I both know, there are certainly cancers that are related as a function of overeating, whether it's diabetes leading to something else.
So what is it you have to do, scare people now?
THOMPSON: Well, first off -- we have to -- I don't know if scaring, but we really have to inform the people and we have to enlist and enroll every person across America. And we've got to get parents to be involved with their children, because children are just getting too fat. They're too sedentary. We've got to get them out of the living room out into the playgrounds. We've got to start telling people that they should not eat everything on their plate and they should not be increasing their calorie intake. And we have to do this in a way that's going to motivate people, the same way we were able to in the early '80s about smoking in America.
We have to do that about calorie intake, about nutrition and about exercise. We have to eat more fruits, more vegetables. You know, Paula, that if you eat your fruits and vegetables, you have a much better way to reduce the risk of cancer in America. And this is something that the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services is teaming up to and we're trying to also, in the Department of Health and Human Services, set an example.
I put the whole Department on a diet and a lot of people in the Department of Health and Human Services, myself included, are on a diet. We're losing weight. And I think that's a good example for America, all Americans to follow.
ZAHN: Come clean here, Mr. Secretary. What have you given up?
THOMPSON: Well, I'm giving up a lot of carbohydrates. I'm increasing my intake on fruits and vegetables each day. I'm exercising more and I'm trying to set an example for the Department. And we're putting out a lot of information and we're trying to encourage everybody in the Department not to smoke and not to increase their weight, but to reduce their weight and to increase their exercise. And we also want to do that for every American.
And I want to compliment you, Paula, because without your leadership and people like you, we're not going to win this battle. So first off, thanks to you for your tremendous contribution in this effort.
ZAHN: Well, thank you very much.
I mean those of us that are active in the cancer community feel very strongly about this issue. We wish you luck and we'd love to have you come back and give a progress report.
THOMPSON: Thank you so very much.
You're wonderful.
ZAHN: Maybe bring in 10 people from your Department and we can show their shrinking waistlines.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
ZAHN: Secretary Tommy Thompson.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 22, 2003 - 07:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to talk food. More and more Americans are super sizing it, and that could be the reason why there is an obesity epidemic. A new report says that portion sizes are getting bigger not only when we eat out, but we seem to match the portions at home. And that increases the risks of heart disease and stroke.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson joins us this morning from Washington to talk about a new initiative to help prevent obesity and asthma and diabetes.
And he joins us now.
Good to see you, Mr. Secretary.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
SEC. TOMMY THOMPSON, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Well, good morning, Paula.
Let me just start off by thanking you for bringing this very vital issue to the forefront of the American public. It is badly needed and I just want to say thank you.
ZAHN: Well, it is something we spend a lot of time talking about. Lord knows, you look at the sales of diet books across the country, it seems just about every ploy people have used to lose weight. It's not working. If that's not working, what can the government do that's going to make any difference?
THOMPSON: Well, first off, we have to alert every American just to how serious the problem is. A hundred and twenty-five million Americans are suffering from a chronic illness. 1.7 million Americans die each year as a result of chronic illnesses. We spend $117 billion a year on obesity, $100 billion on diabetes and $150 billion a year on tobacco smoking related illnesses.
All of these point up to the fact that we have to do something about it. And obesity happens to be one of the crucial points in which we can do something about.
We have to get people alerted. Number two, we have to get the government more involved. We have to get the publicity out there. We have to get cities to compete with each other to become healthy cities. We're going to put money into at least 12 cities across America and designate them as healthy cities so they can show the incidence of diabetes and asthma and more walking paths, to be able to reduce diabetes and asthma and other chronic illnesses.
This is something all of us have got to be involved in and I thank you for your involvement.
ZAHN: Well, Mr. Secretary, when you talk about targeting these individual communities, what kind of incentive are members of that community going to have to lose weight?
THOMPSON: Well, what we have to do is first off we alert people to do it, just the way C. Everett Koop was able to alert the nation about the evils and the problems of tobacco smoking. We have to start talking to people about how individuals are going to adversely impact their health and how it's going to reduce their quality of life unless they do something about it.
Then we're going to put money from the federal treasury into certain cities across America who are going to compete. And they're going to compete on the basis of how they've been able to reduce the incidence of diabetes and asthma, how they're able to develop more walking trails. Because all the evidence points out that if you walk 30 minutes a day five days a week, reduce 10 to 15 pounds, reduce your calorie intake, you will lead a much healthier and a much better quality of life. And that's something that all of us can do and all of us can have an impact on a better healthy America.
ZAHN: You and I both have attended some of the same cancer forums and there are people within the cancer community who feel very strong that now that we know the majority of cancers are preventable, that the only way you get this message to the American public is through PSAs and scaring the heck out of them. And as you and I both know, there are certainly cancers that are related as a function of overeating, whether it's diabetes leading to something else.
So what is it you have to do, scare people now?
THOMPSON: Well, first off -- we have to -- I don't know if scaring, but we really have to inform the people and we have to enlist and enroll every person across America. And we've got to get parents to be involved with their children, because children are just getting too fat. They're too sedentary. We've got to get them out of the living room out into the playgrounds. We've got to start telling people that they should not eat everything on their plate and they should not be increasing their calorie intake. And we have to do this in a way that's going to motivate people, the same way we were able to in the early '80s about smoking in America.
We have to do that about calorie intake, about nutrition and about exercise. We have to eat more fruits, more vegetables. You know, Paula, that if you eat your fruits and vegetables, you have a much better way to reduce the risk of cancer in America. And this is something that the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services is teaming up to and we're trying to also, in the Department of Health and Human Services, set an example.
I put the whole Department on a diet and a lot of people in the Department of Health and Human Services, myself included, are on a diet. We're losing weight. And I think that's a good example for America, all Americans to follow.
ZAHN: Come clean here, Mr. Secretary. What have you given up?
THOMPSON: Well, I'm giving up a lot of carbohydrates. I'm increasing my intake on fruits and vegetables each day. I'm exercising more and I'm trying to set an example for the Department. And we're putting out a lot of information and we're trying to encourage everybody in the Department not to smoke and not to increase their weight, but to reduce their weight and to increase their exercise. And we also want to do that for every American.
And I want to compliment you, Paula, because without your leadership and people like you, we're not going to win this battle. So first off, thanks to you for your tremendous contribution in this effort.
ZAHN: Well, thank you very much.
I mean those of us that are active in the cancer community feel very strongly about this issue. We wish you luck and we'd love to have you come back and give a progress report.
THOMPSON: Thank you so very much.
You're wonderful.
ZAHN: Maybe bring in 10 people from your Department and we can show their shrinking waistlines.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
ZAHN: Secretary Tommy Thompson.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
