Thanks for your thoughts, Gary. By homing in on inflammation, you are spot-on.
The first and typically asymptomatic step to CVD is endothelial dysfunction. And chronic low-grade inflammation plays a key role in initiating and progressing endothelial dysfunction.
While inadequate diet is a contributor to these processes, lack of sufficient physical exercise weighs even heavier.
In a previous post, I explain the effect of exercise (and a lack thereof) in detail, using animated illustrations:
You might want to refer back to that post.
And yes, it is alarming to see how children are exposed to high levels of pro-inflammatory foods. One thing is to blame the food industry for this situation. But the industry produces only what the consumers demand. In my eyes it is high-time that we drastically increase health and food literacy. That should start in primary school. Unfortunately I don't see the administrations making any meaningful steps towards that goal.
