Fatulence

Sitting around and chewing the fat is no joke anymore. Americans love to eat, and with fast food and other restaurant choices, we most certainly do indulge. Sittin’ on your butt and playing a non-physically-active video game, or surfing the Web or even watching the boob tube have long term negative ramifications for us all if we don’t add some serious physical activity to the mix. For those at the lower rungs of society, expensive gasoline and pricey costs for healthier foods like fruit, veggies and fish at the store, folks are carbing up in record numbers, creating a healthcare costs for future years that might just break our ability to pay for such care at any level. The trends are just plain lousy.

“The ranks of obese Americans are expected to swell even further in the coming years, rising from 36% of the adult population today to 42% by 2030…. [The] cost of treating those additional obese people for diabetes, heart disease and other medical conditions would add up to nearly $550 billion over the next two decades…. The sobering projections also contained some good news, the researchers said: Obesity's growth has slowed from the record pace of most of the last 30 years. If those trends were to continue, 51% of American adults would qualify as obese in 2030.” Los Angeles Times, May 7^th.

And for all the fads diets and miracle pills, nothing beat eating less and smarter plus sustainable exercising. There is no easy pill, and if the cost of gym membership is out of reach, trying walking or slow jogging. Not only are we getting truly fatter, but those that tip the scale the most are facing some of the most severe health problems of all.

“Most important was the aging of the population, which tends to nudge many overweight adults into the obese category — and to push many of those who are already obese into ‘severely obese’ territory. The number of severely obese Americans is expected to grow from about 5% today to 11% in 2030, the study said.

“The findings are based on data collected from 1990 through 2008 as part of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a survey by the CDC [Centers for Disease Control] and health departments in the states. Measures of obesity were based on body mass index, which is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. A BMI of 18 to 24.99 is considered healthy; those in the 25-29.99 range are considered overweight; people above 30 are classified as obese, and those above 40 are severely obese.” LA Times.

In the end, it’s a personal choice. But it’s also an example to our children and a burden to the family that may have to take care of us when obesity disables us or reduces what we can do in our work lives. What’s more, it’s a choice that can begin now. Start with little steps that you know you can sustain… build slowly over time. This has to be a sustainable lifetime commitment.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I have to leave now for a ten mile walk!