obesity in america
Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 5:45 pm
"It's little wonder that we have an obesity epidemic. Food is everywhere - beaming from roadsides, advertised on television, screaming in bright colors from grocery store shelves, glowing in vending machines down the hall from your cubicle.
That, coupled with a life of sitting - in cars, at desks, on couches - has set us on the road to an obesity epidemic.
Obesity doesn't just make people feel uncomfortable about their appearance. It increases the risk of chronic and deadly conditions such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
Obesity may soon overtake tobacco as the number one factor in people's deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts obesity will soon be the number one killer. In 2000, tobacco was linked to 435,000 deaths, or 18 percent, and obesity was close behind at 400,000, or 17 percent.
Nearly two out of three adult Americans, 60 percent, are overweight or obese.
"Basically, the numbers are pretty bad and getting worse," says Barbara J. Moore, Ph.D., president and CEO of Shape Up America, a nonprofit to encourage people to be more active and promote healthy weight.
"I am worried that by the year 2020, half of all children will be overweight. What this means is that people are going to be getting sick as children. These children will remain obese into adulthood. Heart attacks and diabetes will happen when they are 30 instead of when they are 60."
Wired for action
"We have a mismatch between our genes and environment. Our genetic profile is to eat a lot and be very physically active," says James Hill, Ph.D., director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center in Denver. He is a co-founder of America on the Move and author of The Step Diet. America on the Move is a nonprofit organization dedicated to getting people to exercise.
"We are in an environment that encourages us to be inactive. While technology is good, it has made us more sedentary. We have even built our cars to hold our food," he says.
Losing weight and keeping it off is difficult even if you reduce calories. Of the 3,000 people in the National Weight Control Registry - who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for more than a year, only 9 percent lost weight without exercising, Hill notes.
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this is a topic i havent seen on TMW yet. im just curious what the general attitude is towards obesity here. it seems like being overweight is becoming more and more accepted in america. this is a bit of a mind***k, but ive been seeing and hearing people that encourage parents to instill confidence and self esteem in their fat children instead of encouraging them to become active and eat healthy. not that i think a parent should rag on their son or daughter for being fat, but trying to make them feel good about it is completely insane.
That, coupled with a life of sitting - in cars, at desks, on couches - has set us on the road to an obesity epidemic.
Obesity doesn't just make people feel uncomfortable about their appearance. It increases the risk of chronic and deadly conditions such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
Obesity may soon overtake tobacco as the number one factor in people's deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts obesity will soon be the number one killer. In 2000, tobacco was linked to 435,000 deaths, or 18 percent, and obesity was close behind at 400,000, or 17 percent.
Nearly two out of three adult Americans, 60 percent, are overweight or obese.
"Basically, the numbers are pretty bad and getting worse," says Barbara J. Moore, Ph.D., president and CEO of Shape Up America, a nonprofit to encourage people to be more active and promote healthy weight.
"I am worried that by the year 2020, half of all children will be overweight. What this means is that people are going to be getting sick as children. These children will remain obese into adulthood. Heart attacks and diabetes will happen when they are 30 instead of when they are 60."
Wired for action
"We have a mismatch between our genes and environment. Our genetic profile is to eat a lot and be very physically active," says James Hill, Ph.D., director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center in Denver. He is a co-founder of America on the Move and author of The Step Diet. America on the Move is a nonprofit organization dedicated to getting people to exercise.
"We are in an environment that encourages us to be inactive. While technology is good, it has made us more sedentary. We have even built our cars to hold our food," he says.
Losing weight and keeping it off is difficult even if you reduce calories. Of the 3,000 people in the National Weight Control Registry - who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for more than a year, only 9 percent lost weight without exercising, Hill notes.
"
this is a topic i havent seen on TMW yet. im just curious what the general attitude is towards obesity here. it seems like being overweight is becoming more and more accepted in america. this is a bit of a mind***k, but ive been seeing and hearing people that encourage parents to instill confidence and self esteem in their fat children instead of encouraging them to become active and eat healthy. not that i think a parent should rag on their son or daughter for being fat, but trying to make them feel good about it is completely insane.
