Obesity in America: What’s the Problem and How Can We Break the Cycle?
Sydney Ford
| 3 min read
The definition of obesity is as follows: being grossly fat or over weight. Doesn’t sound too great does it? Yet, billions of people walk this earth living out that definition daily, with no hopes of changing it.
Obesity has become an epidemic. More than half of the overweight people in the world are from places like China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and a few others.The U.S. tops this list, having one-third of the US population being overweight.
With numbers like that the question is no longer who is obese, but how much overweight are they?
Where is the problem?
It’s tough to find out where the problem lies when it comes to being overweight because many factors can be attributed to weight gain. As it might be obvious to some, the main cause is food and diet.
The kinds of food that we eat determine the energy that we are taking in, if we take in bad energy, then we will be sluggish throughout the day.
That lack of good energy is one of the leading causes of weight gain but poor food choices are not completely our fault.
Advertising is everywhere making us crave food fast; our, “got to have it now”, eating habits drive us to get food on the go. Fast food restaurants push out huge servings of greasy and over processed food that we, apparently, cannot resist.
The environment that we live in also contributes to the problem. Job hours are often a problem, professions that don’t clock out at a set time, and have families, aren’t always able to schedule a workout.
Even for people that do have time, the price tag on some gym memberships turn them away from joining. Of course there is not always outside forces at work. Your body type could depend on your genes.
Take a good look at your parents and grandparents. Chances are you will end up looking very similar to them. This doesn’t mean that if your elders are overweight that it is set in stone that you will look the same. You could be the one to break the cycle, but know that you will have to work that much harder.
Am I on the wrong track?
Obesity does not discriminate. Any race or age group is at risk of becoming overweight. How do you really know if you are on the wrong track? First things first, your scale isn’t a tell all.
Different weights are proportional for your body type. If you think you are overweight, visit your doctor, change your diet and become more active (however much is acceptable according to your doctor) is a good start to put a stop to the weight gain.
It’s not all bad. The good news is that the obesity rates have not been rising as quickly as they have in the past years.
Continuing to make a conscious effort to live a fit lifestyle will keep your weight in balance; leading to a healthier you!
Photo credit: Lauren Manning
