Movie Review: Killer at Large

I cannot recall what tipped me off to watching this movie, Killer at Large but a few weeks ago I requested it from our library and brought it home to watch. As with many of the books and movies that I am researching now the themes are similar as is most of the information but each one has a different perspective and a few new tidbits to share. 30 Days – Season 1 was no exception and I was pleased to find more information to digest and incorporate into my new food view.

One of the most striking topics for me was that diet and exercise, although worthy to pursue, are either not enough or more often too difficult to achieve in our culture. I have a hard time blaming anyone but the individual for their health when we are all responsible for ourselves but I can see the truth in the argument that for most people it is impossible to eat the right amounts of the right foods and get the right amount of exercise when our culture will just now allow it.

In our home we make a big effort to avoid mainstream tv for the kids, limit their exposure to processed and fast foods and get outside to exercise for several hours a day. But in spite of these efforts the children are still exposed and we as adults often make poor choices ourselves. It is hard to exercise 30 min a day when I am caring for the children, running my business, cleaning the house, cooking food, spending time with my husband, helping with the local pool and that is just a short list. It would be so much easier to use prepared foods with a schedule like that and to get anything at all done sitting the kids in front of the tv is a VERY tempting option. But when they are watching tv (if it is pbs) they are not exercising or playing. If they watch mainstream tv they are exposed to all sorts of sugary or bad for you foods and tons of toys. If I feed the family prepared foods these foods are rarely low sugar, low salt or low fat and they are also rarely prepared in environmentally friendly ways. If I do not make a concerted effort, we do not go outside especially on very hot days like we have been experiencing. It is hard to do all the right things, all the time. Bad food and bad choices are everywhere.

The two big trips we planned this summer were more evidence that keeping healthy is a very hard thing to do. After our first trip we learned that we had to pretty much pack our food options and do a lot of research ahead of time to find family friendly healthy restaurants. We also learned that we had to stop every 2-3 hours to play and run. We found interesting parks along the way. But the planning was critical and getting up and going without it meant unpleasantness for everyone (not to mention the effects of greasy, icky fast food).

So, check out the movie, Killer at Large. See if it inspires to you to do more about the obesity epidemic that we are facing in this country.