Column: Eating Texas Whole: the fat fate of the Lone Star State

We are a state that glorifies food — fried butter, fried ice cream, fried Coke. This wouldn't be so alarming if it was temporary like the State Fair that sells this visual nausea. However, there is clear evidence that food worship is here to stay and we are in for "Everything is bigger in Texas, Part 2."

What will society be like when we are all obese?

Society will be depressed and conflicted. It is 2010. We don't go to support groups or get advice. We watch "Losing it with Jillian," get inspired, pick up some pointers and then quit when we don't see immediate results. We do dangerous quick fixes like the "no carb diet," or the "tape worm diet," lose the weight, get excited, eat and then gain it right back. With all of the commercials for diet plans and TV show segments on major weight loss, we have been conditioned to let our weight consume us. It determines our self-worth and well-being.

Society will become lethargic if we don't start being less dependent on science and more active. New technology is made to enable us and not to help us. Twirl a little white wand and play virtual tennis on the Wii. Hold conference calls and work from home. Make friends online and cyber-date. Don't even leave the house for a 3-D movie. Buy the bootleg and watch it on your 3-D TV. Why leave the house longer than you have to?

Try whatever's new at the fast-food place down the street, which is, coincidently, always the most horrible thing on the menu. Who cares? Make it a large, with a barrel of Diet Coke. Then go home, shop online and maybe simulate some exercise on the Wii.

I saw the movie "Wall-e" a couple of weeks ago and marveled at how insightful and satirical the makers of this movie were of life in America. Like father, like son. If Americans are destined to be fat, lazy people who float in pods so we won't have to walk and who have machines that do everything for us, then Texans will be at the forefront. Our humanity and our instincts for survival are disintegrating because of the comfort fatty food gives us.

According to mensfitness.com, four out of the top 25 fattest cities in the United States are here in Texas — San Antonio is No. 3, followed by Houston and El Paso, which are six and seven. Good ole D-town is No. 14 out of the millions of cities and towns in the United States. Texas is the only recurring state in the top 25. Ironically, three out of the four are the leading cities in the state for weight-loss surgery, according to www.yourbariatricsurgeryguide.com.

Maybe it's like Prince said, it's a "sign of the times," but it's no less dangerous. How do we change the mindset of an entire state and in turn change the eating habits of society and the restaurants within our neighborhoods?

Our generation's got next. We need to step up and request better food for our little brothers and sisters in their school cafeterias. We need to make healthier choices at restaurants and in the grocery store. We need to become active. Meet people. Sweat. Spread humanity and show humility.

It is 2010 and our bicuspids are busy, but let's make it for spreading love and awareness and not lethargy and mass suicide. We're eating ourselves to death.