Hot Cheetos are Evil
When not in the Newborn Nursery these past couple weeks, I have been in the pediatric clinic. I tend to like the adolescents here. They are such complex almost adults sort of kids invincible people trying to figure out themselves and the world.
Problem is about half of them are overweight, obese actually, with BMIs at the 99%. They mostly seem to know what is good for them. They just don't do it. It's no mystery (to them or me or their parents) why they are overweight, but they live in denial about it a majority of the time. It's just easier that way.
On Friday, I walked into the room of particularly round eleven year old and her round mother. This is a bright, beautiful young Hispanic woman who aspires to be a pediatrician, does very well in school, attends a private school. She was in for an emergency department follow up after an asthma exacerbation. I dealt with that, found that she had pretty bad allergic rhinitis also, and then tackled the weight/diet/exercise issue.
I should have known something was up with her body image when the first thing her mom said when I walked in was, "See, like her," and pointed to me, "You need to drink more milk and be tall and slim." Firstly, I am 5'8" and she is 4'11" and her mom is 5'4", her chances of milk making her taller are slim. I jokingly told her she might have better luck with one of those medieval stretching machine things. But her chances of being slimmer are achievable--and important for her future health. And milk might actually help with that...2% milk in moderation.
It is better, by far, than the multiple sodas that she drinks every day. "See, you have to drink juice!" Her mom interjects again. "How about water?" I say, "Drink water. Juice has a lot of sugar it it. Even if you get the no sugar added juice, the fruits themselves have a lot of natural sugars and when they are in juice form you lose all the benefits of the fiber. A small glass of orange juice is worth the calories of at least four oranges minus the fiber. Drink water."
And then the clincher, and something I didn't even know existed until I started this residency, "Do you like hot cheetos?" Apparently they are some sort of super spicy form of the original Chester cheetah finger turning orange snack. One of the pediatric endocrinologists here says they are the worst thing ever. The snack companies have finally come up with the perfect combination of fat and taste. They are the most fat and calorie dense snack on the market. And they are empty empty calories. No redeeming feature. They really are evil.
Before I was at the clinic where I am now, the attendings conducted a little experiment with the residents there at the time. They bought and left a bag of the hot cheetos in the work room. And they were gone within hours...or maybe even one hour. Experiment confirmed. They are addictive. Fortunately they stopped the experiment there or else the residents may have been rapidly "super sized" themselves.
So, back to my patient, I ask the dreaded question, "Do you like hot cheetos?" "No" she says while her mom gives her a look like the answer is really yes. "I don't like them that much!" She shoots her mom a look, "I like doritoes." Super. Just super. They're evil, too.
Okay, so I launch into healthy diet education mode: fruits, veggies, non-fried meats, pay attention to iron intake and make sure you get enough calcium in things like low fat milk, yogurt, cottage cheese. Eat salads and get the dressing on the side, dip the fork into the dressing and then get the lettuce and stuff on the fork instead of pouring it on the salad itself. Etc. etc. She is going to meet with our dietician also.
Then there's the exercise tack. "What do you like to do for fun?" "Watch TV...I have PE at school." Again a standard answer. "Yeah...but school doesn't count. It is too variable. You stand around for most of the activity." Some schools, though probably not hers, don't even have enough equipment for all the kids to participate at the same time and they get no more than 5-10 minutes of exercise in a 45 minute PE period. "Plus that doesn't develop good habits for you to take responsibility for your own fitness." "But I am at school 11 hours a day," she says. And her mom adds that their neighborhood isn't safe for walking. So we strategize, "Do you pick her up from school?" "Yes." "Well, how about stopping on the way home and going for a half hour walk in the park together. It will be good for both of you; and you'll get a chance to visit too." They can do this, they agree. And this gets the girl thinking, too. "I like to dance. I can do to dance classes; they make me sweat." "Perfect," I agree.
The hard part is actually doing it for herself. I hope she does. She'll be headed toward early onset type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure (like her mom already has) if she doesn't. It's hard. "Start with simple changes," I tell her.
Drink water.
Exercise.
Avoid hot cheetos!
Case in point:
Don't Miss: Flamin' Hot Cheetos
All over America, school kids can be seen stumbling around, their eyes watery, their mouths ringed with the atomic red powder from Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
May 9, 2006 · I know, I know... you thought Flamin' Hot Cheetos was best known for Californication.
Nope, it's NPR's Luke Burbank's entry into the fast/bad food phenomenon that's hitting the schools. Luke sends this most serious warning exclusively to Mixed Signals readers:
"If you've got kids between age 5 and 15, you're probably already aware of a pernicious red menace that's sweeping the nation these days -- Flamin' Hot Cheetos. That's right, the snacks, introduced in 1991 by Frito-Lay (which also makes Original Cheetos, the nation's best selling extruded cheese-flavored snack), have exploded in popularity over the last few years. All over America, school kids can be seen stumbling around in Cheeto-induced dazes. Their eyes watery, their mouths ringed with the atomic red powder that gives the Cheetos their zest."
Luke beat the House Committee on Un-American Activities to the punch. He visited an elementary school in Pasadena, Calif., where the principal has banned Hot Cheetos -- though the students sneak them in anyway. Check out his report on NPR tonight.
One serious thought: If Flamin' Hot Cheetos were outlawed, then only outlaws will have Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
-- Ken Rudin
6:42 p.m. EDT | 5-9-2006 | permalink
Comments (This post is no longer accepting comments.)
I am a first time writter, and an adult who likes Flamin Hot Cheetos. My problem is with the principle trying to dictate the eating habits of the kids. Personally, I say that she should worry about her cafeteria, teaching the students, and stop trying to make everybody live life the way she wants.
Sent by Kevin Callaway | 5-10-2006
Your story on Flamin' Hot Cheetos came to my car radio at the end of a VERY long work day. The children's humor and laughter brought a much needed smile and uncontrollable laugh to my day. I've never had that flavor of cheetos, but I will no doubt think of your report when I do eventually buy myself a bag. Thank you so much.
Sent by Craig Samson | 5-10-2006
I suspected spicy foods aroused a state similar to being intoxicated when I was 13 years old and ate hot chicken wings, after which my head buzzed as though I were drunk. I proceeded to inhale the steaming hot sauce through my nostrils to enhance the sensation. I discovered years later that my sense of smell had greatly decreased. Anyway, thanks for this informative piece, which validates my long-standing claim to my friends that chicken wings can get ya high!
Sent by Mario Commeret-Medina | 5-10-2006
Good thing the kids haven't discovered Wasabi Peas yet. Dried green peas coated in bright-green wasabi--which are in many supermarkets health-food section--are the current addictive snack for grown-ups at the college where I teach. Top that, kiddies.
Sent by Rachael Williams | 5-10-2006
I work in the medical field and I've seen an increase the number of people developing diabetes at a younger age. This is another example of how we as a society fail our children for providing them with food that has no nutritional value but putting them at higher risk obesity and other medical conditions that could easily be preventable with proper nutritional and exercise.
Sent by Vincent Dang | 5-10-2006
Deja vu... isn't this a repeat? Cute... both times.
Sent by Julie Latimer | 5-10-2006
I've never gotten high from Flaming Hot Cheetos or any spicy food. Now I feel like I've been missing out.
Sent by J. Mann | 5-10-2006
I "outlawed" Flaming Hot Cheetos for my son two years ago when he was in fourth grade. He's very hyper and impulsive, and certain foods exacerbate his inability to focus or maintain control. Although I normally provide only healthy items in his lunch, I had bought a multi pack of Hot Cheetos from Cosco for his lunches as a reward for having behaved well at school the previous week. The plan totally backfired on me. The link between his behavior and Hot Cheetos was so obvious I threw away the rest of the box after just a week.
Sent by Kristin Majda | 5-10-2006
I'm a high school health teacher and I think Kevin's comment is awful! If kids don't learn to eat nutritionally at home, then our only hope is that they'll learn it at school. Does Kevin really believe that the majority of parents out there are doing a good job of educating their children about nutrition? Many people are extremely ignorant about nutritional issues like this and the principal at this school and others, as well as NPR, should be commended for trying to do something about that. Lower income families are particularly in need of help since healthy food tends to cost more and junk food is easily accessible and provides instant, inexpensive gratification. Good habits start during childhood and teachers, principals, and the community have a responsibility to step in and help parents guide our children towards developing them.
Hi, my name is Tage and I am addicted to Flaming Hot Cheetos. I can scarecely let a day go by without a dollars worth of my favorite munchie. Although I'm not sure about the induced "high" of the snack their popularity is unquestionable. I'm a junior at a public high school and our cafeteria contains two areas which are stocked with two six foot tall shelving units, both of which overflow with Flaming Hot Cheetos. I'm not sure how the snacks would be more of a mess for janitors than any other snack, however they probably do provide more mess than any other chip in the cafeteria merely because of their relative abundance. I believe their popularity lies mostly in the fact of their uniqueness every other chip on the market has 10 other chips that, althrough perhaps not packaged, manufactured, or dispersed the same, taste nearly the same. Spicey cheetos are the only mass produced snack that are actually too spicey for many to handle. The flavor is nearly unpalatable for some, but of those who consider it agreeable, many find Flaming Hot Cheetos to provide a rare snacking euphoria.
Problem is about half of them are overweight, obese actually, with BMIs at the 99%. They mostly seem to know what is good for them. They just don't do it. It's no mystery (to them or me or their parents) why they are overweight, but they live in denial about it a majority of the time. It's just easier that way.
On Friday, I walked into the room of particularly round eleven year old and her round mother. This is a bright, beautiful young Hispanic woman who aspires to be a pediatrician, does very well in school, attends a private school. She was in for an emergency department follow up after an asthma exacerbation. I dealt with that, found that she had pretty bad allergic rhinitis also, and then tackled the weight/diet/exercise issue.
I should have known something was up with her body image when the first thing her mom said when I walked in was, "See, like her," and pointed to me, "You need to drink more milk and be tall and slim." Firstly, I am 5'8" and she is 4'11" and her mom is 5'4", her chances of milk making her taller are slim. I jokingly told her she might have better luck with one of those medieval stretching machine things. But her chances of being slimmer are achievable--and important for her future health. And milk might actually help with that...2% milk in moderation.
It is better, by far, than the multiple sodas that she drinks every day. "See, you have to drink juice!" Her mom interjects again. "How about water?" I say, "Drink water. Juice has a lot of sugar it it. Even if you get the no sugar added juice, the fruits themselves have a lot of natural sugars and when they are in juice form you lose all the benefits of the fiber. A small glass of orange juice is worth the calories of at least four oranges minus the fiber. Drink water."
And then the clincher, and something I didn't even know existed until I started this residency, "Do you like hot cheetos?" Apparently they are some sort of super spicy form of the original Chester cheetah finger turning orange snack. One of the pediatric endocrinologists here says they are the worst thing ever. The snack companies have finally come up with the perfect combination of fat and taste. They are the most fat and calorie dense snack on the market. And they are empty empty calories. No redeeming feature. They really are evil.
Before I was at the clinic where I am now, the attendings conducted a little experiment with the residents there at the time. They bought and left a bag of the hot cheetos in the work room. And they were gone within hours...or maybe even one hour. Experiment confirmed. They are addictive. Fortunately they stopped the experiment there or else the residents may have been rapidly "super sized" themselves.
So, back to my patient, I ask the dreaded question, "Do you like hot cheetos?" "No" she says while her mom gives her a look like the answer is really yes. "I don't like them that much!" She shoots her mom a look, "I like doritoes." Super. Just super. They're evil, too.
Okay, so I launch into healthy diet education mode: fruits, veggies, non-fried meats, pay attention to iron intake and make sure you get enough calcium in things like low fat milk, yogurt, cottage cheese. Eat salads and get the dressing on the side, dip the fork into the dressing and then get the lettuce and stuff on the fork instead of pouring it on the salad itself. Etc. etc. She is going to meet with our dietician also.
Then there's the exercise tack. "What do you like to do for fun?" "Watch TV...I have PE at school." Again a standard answer. "Yeah...but school doesn't count. It is too variable. You stand around for most of the activity." Some schools, though probably not hers, don't even have enough equipment for all the kids to participate at the same time and they get no more than 5-10 minutes of exercise in a 45 minute PE period. "Plus that doesn't develop good habits for you to take responsibility for your own fitness." "But I am at school 11 hours a day," she says. And her mom adds that their neighborhood isn't safe for walking. So we strategize, "Do you pick her up from school?" "Yes." "Well, how about stopping on the way home and going for a half hour walk in the park together. It will be good for both of you; and you'll get a chance to visit too." They can do this, they agree. And this gets the girl thinking, too. "I like to dance. I can do to dance classes; they make me sweat." "Perfect," I agree.
The hard part is actually doing it for herself. I hope she does. She'll be headed toward early onset type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure (like her mom already has) if she doesn't. It's hard. "Start with simple changes," I tell her.
Drink water.
Exercise.
Avoid hot cheetos!
Case in point:
Don't Miss: Flamin' Hot Cheetos
All over America, school kids can be seen stumbling around, their eyes watery, their mouths ringed with the atomic red powder from Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
May 9, 2006 · I know, I know... you thought Flamin' Hot Cheetos was best known for Californication.
Nope, it's NPR's Luke Burbank's entry into the fast/bad food phenomenon that's hitting the schools. Luke sends this most serious warning exclusively to Mixed Signals readers:
"If you've got kids between age 5 and 15, you're probably already aware of a pernicious red menace that's sweeping the nation these days -- Flamin' Hot Cheetos. That's right, the snacks, introduced in 1991 by Frito-Lay (which also makes Original Cheetos, the nation's best selling extruded cheese-flavored snack), have exploded in popularity over the last few years. All over America, school kids can be seen stumbling around in Cheeto-induced dazes. Their eyes watery, their mouths ringed with the atomic red powder that gives the Cheetos their zest."
Luke beat the House Committee on Un-American Activities to the punch. He visited an elementary school in Pasadena, Calif., where the principal has banned Hot Cheetos -- though the students sneak them in anyway. Check out his report on NPR tonight.
One serious thought: If Flamin' Hot Cheetos were outlawed, then only outlaws will have Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
-- Ken Rudin
6:42 p.m. EDT | 5-9-2006 | permalink
Comments (This post is no longer accepting comments.)
I am a first time writter, and an adult who likes Flamin Hot Cheetos. My problem is with the principle trying to dictate the eating habits of the kids. Personally, I say that she should worry about her cafeteria, teaching the students, and stop trying to make everybody live life the way she wants.
Sent by Kevin Callaway | 5-10-2006
Your story on Flamin' Hot Cheetos came to my car radio at the end of a VERY long work day. The children's humor and laughter brought a much needed smile and uncontrollable laugh to my day. I've never had that flavor of cheetos, but I will no doubt think of your report when I do eventually buy myself a bag. Thank you so much.
Sent by Craig Samson | 5-10-2006
I suspected spicy foods aroused a state similar to being intoxicated when I was 13 years old and ate hot chicken wings, after which my head buzzed as though I were drunk. I proceeded to inhale the steaming hot sauce through my nostrils to enhance the sensation. I discovered years later that my sense of smell had greatly decreased. Anyway, thanks for this informative piece, which validates my long-standing claim to my friends that chicken wings can get ya high!
Sent by Mario Commeret-Medina | 5-10-2006
Good thing the kids haven't discovered Wasabi Peas yet. Dried green peas coated in bright-green wasabi--which are in many supermarkets health-food section--are the current addictive snack for grown-ups at the college where I teach. Top that, kiddies.
Sent by Rachael Williams | 5-10-2006
I work in the medical field and I've seen an increase the number of people developing diabetes at a younger age. This is another example of how we as a society fail our children for providing them with food that has no nutritional value but putting them at higher risk obesity and other medical conditions that could easily be preventable with proper nutritional and exercise.
Sent by Vincent Dang | 5-10-2006
Deja vu... isn't this a repeat? Cute... both times.
Sent by Julie Latimer | 5-10-2006
I've never gotten high from Flaming Hot Cheetos or any spicy food. Now I feel like I've been missing out.
Sent by J. Mann | 5-10-2006
I "outlawed" Flaming Hot Cheetos for my son two years ago when he was in fourth grade. He's very hyper and impulsive, and certain foods exacerbate his inability to focus or maintain control. Although I normally provide only healthy items in his lunch, I had bought a multi pack of Hot Cheetos from Cosco for his lunches as a reward for having behaved well at school the previous week. The plan totally backfired on me. The link between his behavior and Hot Cheetos was so obvious I threw away the rest of the box after just a week.
Sent by Kristin Majda | 5-10-2006
I'm a high school health teacher and I think Kevin's comment is awful! If kids don't learn to eat nutritionally at home, then our only hope is that they'll learn it at school. Does Kevin really believe that the majority of parents out there are doing a good job of educating their children about nutrition? Many people are extremely ignorant about nutritional issues like this and the principal at this school and others, as well as NPR, should be commended for trying to do something about that. Lower income families are particularly in need of help since healthy food tends to cost more and junk food is easily accessible and provides instant, inexpensive gratification. Good habits start during childhood and teachers, principals, and the community have a responsibility to step in and help parents guide our children towards developing them.
Hi, my name is Tage and I am addicted to Flaming Hot Cheetos. I can scarecely let a day go by without a dollars worth of my favorite munchie. Although I'm not sure about the induced "high" of the snack their popularity is unquestionable. I'm a junior at a public high school and our cafeteria contains two areas which are stocked with two six foot tall shelving units, both of which overflow with Flaming Hot Cheetos. I'm not sure how the snacks would be more of a mess for janitors than any other snack, however they probably do provide more mess than any other chip in the cafeteria merely because of their relative abundance. I believe their popularity lies mostly in the fact of their uniqueness every other chip on the market has 10 other chips that, althrough perhaps not packaged, manufactured, or dispersed the same, taste nearly the same. Spicey cheetos are the only mass produced snack that are actually too spicey for many to handle. The flavor is nearly unpalatable for some, but of those who consider it agreeable, many find Flaming Hot Cheetos to provide a rare snacking euphoria.
posted by S. at 12:09 PM
2 Comments:
I know it wasn't your intent, but unfortunately, your post has actually made me want to go get a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Maybe I just have a death wish.
Don't do it! Must...be...strong...resist the urge!
I was afraid something like this would happen.
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