A little something about obesity
"Diet and exercise!"
We've heard this phrase so many times, it may make our ears bleed. Yet according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 35.7% of Americans are obese. Americans spend $147 billion dollars (in 2008 U.S. dollars) every year in obesity-related medical costs. Here is the prevalence data for obesity according to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which is the world's largest ongoing telephone survey regarding health.
The highest obesity rate is in Louisiana (34.7%) and lowest in Colorado (20.5%). Notice that these are self-reported, and the real numbers could be significantly higher.
What are some causes of obesity? Genetics and environment are both in play here. Genetics may make people susceptible to obesity, and environment (Such as the car-culture, sedentary lifestyle, and lack of physical activity) contribute to this epidemic.
What can we do about this? Of course, on a policy level, the government can implement strategies. But on a personal level, one can commit to combat this epidemic by making changes in their lifestyle. It could be the the smallest changes that may help combat this on a larger scale.
Examples:
1. Substitute a fruit when you want to snack at work instead of grabbing that candy bar.
2. Only give seven minutes to working out. It doesn't matter if you are doing push-ups when watching commercials on TV, or taking the stairs to your workplace. Just giving seven minutes to doing some sort of physical activity a day could lead to long-term benefits. If you can't give seven minutes out of your day to something--it may be time to reevaluate your life a little bit. Don McClean's "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" is an 8:41 min song. That could be a great start!
3. If you eat out a lot, maybe you could commit to reducing your portion size and making two meals out of one entree.
4. Drinking one 8 oz.) glass of water before a meal could reduce the overall amount of food you are consuming because you feel full. Portion sizes are out of control at restaurants, and this may help with #3 as well.
Hope these help!
We've heard this phrase so many times, it may make our ears bleed. Yet according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 35.7% of Americans are obese. Americans spend $147 billion dollars (in 2008 U.S. dollars) every year in obesity-related medical costs. Here is the prevalence data for obesity according to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which is the world's largest ongoing telephone survey regarding health.
What are some causes of obesity? Genetics and environment are both in play here. Genetics may make people susceptible to obesity, and environment (Such as the car-culture, sedentary lifestyle, and lack of physical activity) contribute to this epidemic.
What can we do about this? Of course, on a policy level, the government can implement strategies. But on a personal level, one can commit to combat this epidemic by making changes in their lifestyle. It could be the the smallest changes that may help combat this on a larger scale.
Examples:
1. Substitute a fruit when you want to snack at work instead of grabbing that candy bar.
2. Only give seven minutes to working out. It doesn't matter if you are doing push-ups when watching commercials on TV, or taking the stairs to your workplace. Just giving seven minutes to doing some sort of physical activity a day could lead to long-term benefits. If you can't give seven minutes out of your day to something--it may be time to reevaluate your life a little bit. Don McClean's "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" is an 8:41 min song. That could be a great start!
3. If you eat out a lot, maybe you could commit to reducing your portion size and making two meals out of one entree.
4. Drinking one 8 oz.) glass of water before a meal could reduce the overall amount of food you are consuming because you feel full. Portion sizes are out of control at restaurants, and this may help with #3 as well.
Hope these help!
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