Obsessed But
Still Obese!
The Greatest
Oxymoron has to be the fact that we live in a nation that
has over 4500 diets and yet obesity is at an all time
high! Go Figure!
To say that Americans are obsessed with
dieting is an understatement! Pick up any magazine, tune-in or
turn-on any source of advertising and you're bombarded with the
latest diet schemes and food fads. More often than not, they
are endorsed by some familiar Hollywood celebrity, or promoted
using some other clever technique.
It's no mystery that the weight-loss industry has built a
thriving empire. In America, for example, we spend about 35
billion dollars every year on an assortment of weight loss
products and plans. In addition, we spend another 79 billion
dollars for medication, hospitalization, and doctors to treat
obesity-related problems. Even with this, the obesity epidemic
continues to spread. Sadly, we have become the heaviest
generation in our Nation's history.
The National Center for Health Statistics reports that we have
some very good reasons to be concerned about our weight-gain.
Americans, for example are packing-on the pounds faster than
ever before and weight-related medical problems are taking
center stage. Diseases like heart disease, diabetes and
yes...even certain forms of cancer have all been linked to
obesity.
Here are a few of the surprising statistics about our
weight:
- A whopping 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or
obese. That's up approximately 8 percent from overweight
estimates obtained in a 1988 report.
- The percent of children who are overweight is also continuing
to increase. Among children and teens ages 6-19, 15 percent or
almost 9 million are overweight. That's triple what the rate
was in 1980!
- Nearly one-third of all adults are now classified as obese.
At present, 31 percent of adults 20 years of age and over or
nearly 59 million people have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or
greater, compared with 23 percent in 1994.
(The BMI is a number that shows body weight adjusted for
height. For adults, a BMI of 18.5 - 24.9 is considered normal.
A BMI of 25.0 - 29.9 is overweight and 30.0 or above, is
considered obese.)
Modern life both at home and at work has
come to revolve around moving from one "seated" position to
another: whether it's television, computers, remote controls,
or automobiles, we seem to be broadening the scope of our
inactive endeavors.
At times, life seems to have gotten almost too easy! For
entertainment, we can now just sit-down, dial-up our favorite
TV program or DVD movie and enjoy hours of uninterrupted
entertainment...
And all those simple calorie burning activities that were once
a normal part of our daily routine not so long ago? Long gone!
You know the ones I'm talking about...activities like climbing
stairs instead of using escalators and elevators. Or, pushing a
lawn mower instead of riding around on a garden tractor. And
what about that daily walk to school? Now, our kids complain
when the school bus happens to be a few minutes late getting to
the bus stop!
Along with the convenience of our affluent lifestyle and
reduction in energy expenditure, have come changes in our diet.
We are now consuming more calorie rich and nutrient deficient
foods than ever before.
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