While surfing through the channels the other day, I came across a remarkable sight: fitness guru Richard Simmons, in a dark three-piece suit, speaking words of wisdom to Neil Cavuto and making far more sense than City Council Member Joel Rivera.

In an attempt to combat the obesity epidemic, Mr. Rivera has introduced a zoning law that will limit the number of fast food venues that can be built within a certain area. Mr. Simmons, however, says fat people have only themselves to blame for their weight.

Why is there an obesity epidemic? Umm, perhaps because we eat too much and don’t exercise enough. Restricting the placement of fast food businesses or demanding that restaurant menus display caloric values are futile gestures.

When Mr. Cavuto told Mr. Simmons that a former guest claimed that, because Americans aren’t eating wisely, the government needs to step in to control this epidemic, Mr. Simmons said: “This is just ridiculous. I mean, it’s like Big Brother in the restaurants. If you know you can’t go out to eat at certain restaurants, then don’t go out right now. Or, if you go, get the portions cut in half and take a doggie bag home. We are blaming the schools. We are blaming the employers. We are blaming the supermarkets.We are blaming the restaurants. When are we going to look in the mirror, Neil, and say, ‘I’m to blame?'”

A reader once wrote me wondering whether the school breakfast program could be the obesity culprit because children are double dipping: eating at home before they eat at school. Could be. When I was a child and our family was extremely poor, I had hot oatmeal before school. But at some point, feeding students breakfast became the responsibility of the school system. Look how well that turned out.

Here’s more wisdom from the mouth of Mr. Simmons: “You know, it’s all about respecting yourself, respecting this body that God gave you. It’s the only thing you actually own. And, you know, we are blaming it on — on some nun in fifth grade, a grandmother that called us chubby, an ex-husband who made a horrible remark. We have to take the responsibility to look in the mirror and go: Okay, I’m 50 pounds overweight. I have diabetes. I have got to take the responsibility now and take care of me and my family. Do you know how many letters and e-mails I get from parents who have overweight children? And 90% of them are overweight themselves.”

As a child growing up in poverty on 110th Street, I was painfully thin, but not because of a lack of food. I was an extremely fussy eater and spent most of the summer days jumping rope and roller-skating. We couldn’t afford a television and video games weren’t yet around. Today’s youth is welded to iPods, Gameboys, Xboxes, and the Internet. Most of their day is spent in front of monitors or television screens, high-calorie snacks in hand.

Despite Mr. Rivera’s wrongheaded gesture regarding fast food businesses, he was wise to grant $250,000 to a Health Corps program that targets the root of the problem of obesity through education. In his press release announcing the grant, Mr. Rivera said, “I believe we need to take a number of serious steps to counteract New York City’s growing obesity epidemic, a problem that is threatening the lives of our children and costing taxpayers billions of dollars a year.”

The program was founded by a cardiologist, Dr. Mehmet Oz, to combat childhood obesity. My alma mater, Cathedral H.S. for Girls, was one of the two schools participating in the program — the other is George Washington H.S. The plan is scheduled to expand to other public schools in the near future.

The Health Corps Council converted storage areas at Cathedral into a “Wellness Zone” where students can exercise on non-gym days. Workshops are held to teach the benefits of healthy eating habits and other well-being topics.

From what I witnessed of the program’s demonstration, most of the Cathedral students appear to be in much better shape than I was when the onset of my teenage years ended my scrawny physique and my battle of the bulge began. But the person in my mirror is the one responsible for my girth, not the six pregnancies that I’ve been claiming destroyed my figure. Mr. Simmons is 100% correct. He, bless him, was on his way to beg the president to bring physical education back into the schools and to recommend starting a P.E. program for adults at work.

Now, excuse me while I dust off my “Sweating to the Oldies” tape.