LDS Addicted to Sugar? Nah.

Reporter Peggy Fletcher of Salt Lake Tribune fame writes in this Daily Herald article about how good Mormons have a propensity for all things sugary. She writes, "Kent Christensen doesn't drink beer, wine, coffee or tea. And he certainly doesn't smoke. But he does love cake, cookies, candy and nearly every other form of sugary delight. While partying in New York City several years ago, one of Christensen's friends remarked, "I've figured you out. Sugar is the Mormon heroin."

In all fairness to Ms. Fletcher, I think her article was actually on food art or the sugar plum fairy, I forget which. I truly do understand where the quote above comes from. I've heard most of my adult life that we are the ice cream capital, the jello capital, the donut capital of the country -- at least that is the rumor. But I can't help asking myself where all that sugar we are supposedly eating is going to? I mean, it does seem odd that we LDS think ourselves as having such a propensity for sugary donuts, cakes, candy and so forth compared to the rest of the country, and yet we are some of the thinnest people in this porkulent , er, I mean corpulent country.

Not so, you say? Mormons are sugar loving fatties? Nah uh. I submit two pieces of evidence for your consideration. First, did you know that there are only a few states where the average citizen is thinner than a Utahan? When I visit elsewhere, like home in Hawaii, I see a lot of hefty people that I'm not used to seeing here (see photo). It is true that neighboring states of Montana and Colorado are thinner. We all know about the bitter cold, calorie-burning Winters of Montana and the hard Rocky Mountain climbs of Colorado. But, why are we in Utah roughly in the same league as the thinnest states? We have less harsh physical conditions here and a lot, lot more kids. Talk about conditions for fatness, and yet we aren't.

Want more proof? Well, according to Men's Fitness magazine, my alma matter of BYU has just been voted the buffest campus in America. Students actually get fitter there, while students at universities in say Mississippi actually get fatter during their college years. Utah, the sugar capital of the States? As John Stossel of the television news magazine 20/20 would say, "Give me a break", and while your at it pass some of those donuts this way.