Where did we miss the boat was the question being asked at lunch and breaks at the summer conference of the Maine Dietetic Association (MDA) held in Bangor Aug. 2. On a perfect summer day instead of enjoying Maine “the way life should be,” more than 70 registered dietitians and technicians listened for seven hours about allergy, dysphagia, and the effect of biotechnology on food and health. A member of the prestigious Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Science; a physician and a scientist from the International Food Information Council; and two specialists in feeding individuals with head injuries and strokes kept the members taking copious notes and asking questions that will enhance their practice.

So why spend the attitude adjustment time talking shop? Dietitians were buzzing like bees about recent attention on obesity in the media, including the BDN, Wall Street Journal, and most weekly magazines, as well as on radio and TV. Obesity has weighed heavily (no pun intended) on the minds of dietitians for at least 20 years.

And there Maine leads also. Jayne Hurley, a graduate of the University of Maine Food and Nutrition program, has been writing articles about the high fat and sodium content of many convenience foods since her first article about the fat in movie popcorn. After leaving Maine and becoming a registered dietitian she joined the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Jayne is senior nutritionist on the editorial staff of the Nutrition Action Health Letter published monthly there.

That center and most dietitians have advocated public resistance to America’s romance with excesses in use of fast food, soda, and supersizing for the last two or three decades. In 1997, the ADA position paper on weight management made it clear that dietetic professionals are promoting programs that help persons focus on healthy attitudes about food and weight. In 1999, CSPI asked why some annual advertising budgets for convenience foods spent more every 12 hours to promote their high fat foods than was spent in a year by programs that promote eating more fruits and vegetables.

Members of the MDA are marching right along with the army that is mobilizing in a war against obesity. They have been seeing clients who are referred by physicians; teaching classes in weight control; and encouraging support groups for increasing nutrition education and physical activity. They refocus treatment from weight loss alone to weight management. Maine schools are also in that fight. Many schools have eliminated the vending machines that carry low nutrient dense foods and some cafeterias are no longer providing a la carte menu items but returning to a healthful attractive meal planned to meet the growth needs of its students.

How can the public join this crusade to prevent disease and decrease health care costs? The most recent issue of the CSPI newsletter is urging us to encourage our city and state to require nutrition information on the menus of fast-food and other chain restaurants and on vending machines. It would not take much space on those boards to list the calories.

We could also suggest to our employers that they require that the health insurance that is purchased for employees include reimbursement for medical nutrition therapy. One to four sessions with a registered dietitian costs noticeably less than hospitalization and medications for conditions that follow obesity. Or should we have more group sessions where nutrition information and eating habits are discussed?

Our goal is that each individual can make informed choices – not that we tell food vendors what they can offer- we just want to know what is in the food we buy and to have the nutrition knowledge to make the decision about the food that meets our needs.

Katherine O. Musgrave is professor emerita of food science and nutrition at the University of Maine and a registered dietitian for the Diabetes and Nutrition Center at St. Joseph Healthcare.