The American Fatness Epidemic

Obesity has become an epidemic in this country. The
American Fatness Epidemic has become our #1 health problem
in the United States as nearly 2 out of every 3 American
adults are overweight compared to about 1 out of 4 in the
early 1960s. Obesity accounts for greater than 280,000
deaths annually in the United States and is running neck
and neck with smoking as the #1 preventable cause of death
in this country.

Medical expenses and loss of income related to The American
Fatness Epidemic exceeds about 68 billion dollars annually.
We spend over 30 billion dollars annually on diet
products. So how did we get into this predicament?

Let’s take a look at the basics for a moment. It has to do
with our ancestors thousands of years ago. It goes back to
our genetics. Our ancestors were hunter-gatherers. Their
“job” was to look for food, protect their families and
merely survive. They were nomadic in nature for the most
part, and hunted and collected seeds, nuts, berries, and
perhaps planted a few crops as well. When food was
plentiful, they ate more and stored it as fat to keep them
from starving when food was scarce. When food was scarce
and they ate less, their bodies recognized this and their
metabolism slowed. Well, guess what? The physiology has
not changed! We still have that urge to keep eating more
than we need; and we do! The problem is that we do not
have any times when food is scarce and we continue to store
the excess as fat. Our bodies are very efficient at doing
this. We have more food than we know what to do with and
we keep on eating more than we need. The result: The
American Fatness Epidemic.

We are a convenience-minded society that eats too much and
moves too little. That’s it! Remember our hunter-gatherer
ancestors? Hunting now consists of finding our favorite
fast food restaurant and we gather by taking the bag of
food from the person at the drive-up window. We do not
even have to leave the car.

The two biggest problems which have contributed to the
American Fatness Epidemic and have become a "norm" in our
society are:

1. Portion sizes. Portion sizes have gotten out-of-hand in
the past couple of decades. Here is an example. I walked
into one of our favorite fast food establishments and
wanted to order a sandwich and small drink. No fries; just
the sandwich. The young lady who waited on me informed me
that I could purchase a “meal” with fries and a medium
drink CHEAPER than for the sandwich and small drink. Well,
that’s a deal! Why not? More food for less money! That
is what our society is up against. More is better! No it
isn’t. Not when it comes to calories, fat intake, and our
health.

2. We do not move enough! We watch too much television,
computers have become such a huge part of our lives along
with remote controls and video games. Here are some
sobering statistics to ponder:

20% of Americans are completely sedentary. 60% get no
regular exercise. 80% are not exercising appropriately to
achieve the desired outcomes. 64% of school age children
have no daily physical education anymore.

We’ve got an American Fatness Epidemic which is worsening.
A recent study showed that the risk of death from all
cancers is 62% higher for obese females and 52% higher in
obese men compared to women and men of normal body weight.
It is estimated that around 90,000 deaths a year in the
United States could be prevented by maintaining a healthy
weight.

So what is a “healthy weight?” We use the BMI (body mass
index) as an indicator for healthy weight determination.
It consists of your weight in kilograms divided by your
height in meters squared. 18.5-24.9 is considered normal
(healthy) weight, 25-30 overweight, and greater than 30
obese. The advantage of using the BMI is that it is one
set of numbers for all people of both sexes and it is
linearly related to health risk. In other words, the
higher your BMI is above normal range, the greater chances
of serious health disorders.

We have to adapt a lifestyle that is more like our
hunter-gatherer ancestors. We are creatures of habit and
habits are difficult to break; especially bad ones. So,
what do we do about it?

How about visiting your doctor? Unfortunately, I wouldn’t
count on his or her help. Doctors should be your coach,
but in reality your doctor is too busy most of the time to
go into any depth when it comes to diet, exercise, and
weight loss. Here is how it goes. Tell me if I am right.
You visit your physician and he or she asks you how you are
doing and what your problem is. He or she listens to your
heart and lungs, checks your throat or whatever else
bothers you, writes out your prescription, and maybe, just
maybe, tells you to lose weight and eat a more healthy diet
and exercise more. Sound familiar?

42% of obese patients are told by their physicians to lose
weight. 45% do not receive any diet counseling.

Most of our health care dollar is spent treating the
outcomes of poor lifestyle choices. We do not have a
health care system; we have a sick care system. Think
about it. The insurance companies will pay for the
treatment of those outcomes with medications and surgeries
and procedures, but very little is covered or devoted for
prevention.

There is no magic pill to lose weight; at least not yet.
There are a lot of reasons that we eat that has nothing to
do with hunger. There are many emotional and social cues
which cause us to eat when we are not hungry. That is
another HUGE problem! The easiest way to avoid this
pitfall is to rid your environment of the “bad foods” that
you grab and eat in these situations. If it isn’t
available, you can’t eat it! If it is bad for you, then
don’t bring it home! That is what I tell my patients. At
the same time, you shouldn’t deprive yourself either. It
is stupid to tell yourself that you are never going to eat
another piece of chocolate cake again. That is a set up
for failure.

Finally, don’t get hung up on your weight! Take care of
your lifestyle and make sensible choices and the weight
will take care of itself. You want to concentrate on
losing fat and becoming a healthy individual. By eating a
healthy diet and exercising regularly, you will build
muscle mass and lose the fat. I use the analogy of an
automobile when explaining this concept to patients. When
you are overweight and sluggish, it is because your engine
is out of tune and operating like a puny 4 cylinder Pinto.
When you give your body the proper fuel and begin
exercising, you gain more muscle converting your engine
into an 8 cylinder sports car which burns more fuel (fat)
and operates more efficiently. Keep that comparison in
mind and you should be on your road to a healthier happy
life.


About the Author:

Dr. Crawford discusses on our biggest public health problem
in his article "The American Fatness Epidemic; the Reasons
and Solutions to the
problem"==>http://www.babyboomersdoc.com