An Obesity Epidemic – Can It Be Reversed?

As many of you know the United States has an obesity epidemic. Actually it is a global epidemic. How did it happen and what can be done about it, if anything?an obesity epidemic

Just to give you a few statistics, about 1 in every 3 adults in the U.S. is obese. And 1/3 more Americans are overweight.

Doctor, Doctor

The medical costs for this problem is $150 billion a year. Obesity and being overweight contributes to Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancers. One child in every six  is overweight. What are they going to be like when they are grown.

How did it happen? Well I think it’s apparent. Fast food restaurants, take-out, more junk and processed foods line the shelves at our favorite grocery stores. All of that contributes to the problem.

The commercials on TV that are food related make the food look so appetizing, you’re ready to jump off the couch and go get some.

I recently saw a billboard that said, “Be aware of what you put in your body, you have to live there”. I really thought that was very powerful and truthful.

If we could all think of that whenever we started to put junk food in our system, how much better off we would be.

The classic American diet consists of extra large portions of fried  foods and large servings of fast food and sugary drinks  from your local drive-thru.

Then there’s the pizza, chips, tacos. Not including the sweet desserts like ice cream, apple pie, brownies. I could go on and on.

Then we spend 20 billion dollars a year on weight loss, ranging from diet pills, books, diet programs like Weight Watchers to expensive surgeries..

Cafeteria lines 

Most of our schools serve high carb and high fat foods because they are cheaper and have a longer shelf life than fresh fruits and vegetables. Plus the kids won’t eat the food that are better for them. They’re used to the junk food they have been fed since they were little.

Also the vending machines are filled with junk foods and processed foods. Sodas and fruit juices that are available are loaded with sugar and calories. And the kids are so conditioned to that type of eating it’s going to be very hard to change their taste buds.woman eating lots of food

What to do

There are many avenues to take if you want to lose weight. The internet has a wealth of information on the many different approaches to weight loss. This website is mostly about fasting, juice fasting, intermittent fasting to help you get started.

I know that juice fasting was very beneficial for me. I knew what I was going to have in the course of a day, I wasn’t hungry and I stuck to it to lose the weight.

I planned around my schedule when I knew there weren’t any food-related functions I had to attend, so it went very smoothly. So plan ahead and get started. You will be so proud of yourself when you start seeing the pounds fall off.

Moving more

Another reason the population in the U.S. is overweight is because we are too sedentary. Remote controls, elevators, computers, trains, buses, and cars are so much a part of our life, what would we do without them. Start walking!

 

If you are overweight and want to change things, you can. Start with baby steps. If you haven’t exercised in a while, start with a 15 minute walk.

Do that for a week and then keep increasing the walk by 5 minutes a week. Before you know it you will be able to walk an hour. Which is what is recommended. If you can get build up to an hour a day, then you might want to try walking poles.

They could increase your calorie burn by 50%, how much  healthy you would feel and be. And walking with walking poles is so good for you and much more fun so, Let’s get started.

So if you and your family are overweight or obese, do something about it. It doesn’t take much. Getting started is the hard part, but you will feel so much better and your family will thanks you for getting them on the road to a healthy lifestyle.

I would love to hear your comments about obesity in this country. Please comment or ask a question below and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you, Deanna

 

10 thoughts on “An Obesity Epidemic – Can It Be Reversed?”

  1. This is so spot on, and I think we teach our kids poorly especially with regards to school lunches. I pack my son’s lunch every day because he says the cafeteria food is “disgusting”–fried foods, carbs, sweets and very little in the way of fresh vegetables. Getting a fitbit has helped me and my kids become more aware of our daily activity levels, and we have “competitions” to see who can walk more each day! Keeping it fun is important.

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    • Hi Hillary, Thanks for the comment, sorry I did not reply sooner but was sick for a while. That a great idea about doing the competitions with your children. We all need to move more. Good luck, Deanna

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  2. Hi Deanna,

    I think the problem of obesity not only affects the resident of U.S. In my country Malaysia, we are known for our delicacies from various cultures. It’s no wonder that we have similar problems over here.

    I’m not proud to say that I’ve recently fall into the obese category, having gained 6 kgs in the past 6 months. Most of it have to do with the culture that we are brought up it. Eating is our culture. And indirectly obesity becomes a problem too.

    I think stopping obesity involves educations and it has to start at a younger age, like early 20s before our metabolism changes. Working out and eating healthy is a good way. The question is how to raise the awareness of the public.

    Kenny

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    • Hi Kenny, Sorry I’m so late in replying, been sick for a while, but better now. You are right, we need to educate our young people about diet and exercise and how important it is to stay healthy. Thanks for the comment, Deanna

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  3. Obesity has become almost a way of life in the US and its very sad. Advertisers will put very misleading information in our faces (like that yogurt or orange juice are healthy when they are LOADED with sugar, for instance). We dont teach enough nutrition information in schools so people rely on ads to learn about health and its so wrong. We need more people out there educating families on health and nutrition. Thanks for your article! I am very much into health and fitness too and I think its great that you are trying to help people change their lives.

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    • Thanks, Stephanie, The food industry advertises to entice the public to buy, which we do, without checking for ourselves if this a healthy food to consume. Like the orange juice loaded with sugar. We have to read the labels and decide for ourselves what we should eat for a healthy diet. Thanks again for your comments, Deanna

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  4. Good tips to start reversing being overweight, it seems most of us have at least some extra belly fat than we need. Many times it is not how much our eating, but what you are eating which adds belly fat.

    Good tips to get people started on the right track without over doing it and becoming overwhelmed and even depressed.

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    • Jeffrey,Thanks for your comments. Yes, it’s true, it’s very important what you eat. Giving up processed food and calorie-laden snacks and eating more salads and veggies would help. Thanks again, Deanna

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  5. It really is unbelievable that this obesity epidemic is this far out of hand. I think we all ignored fast foods and junk food when we were growing up but as we get older and more obese, then it seems to begin to matter more.
    I have to believe that at least for me it’s been a lot about emotional eating too.
    When you stop and think about what you’re putting in your mouth and why, then it’s time for a big change.
    The change has to balance the scales as far as eating less and exercising more.

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    • Thanks for your comment Rob, it’s true most of us eat emotionally. We have to change our mindset and train ourselves to only eat when we are hungry. Thanks, Deanna  

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