Our nation has more people who are obese than those who are just overweight. This is according to a report by the federal government. But what does that mean? The terms overweight and obesity refer to a person’s overall body weight and where the extra weight comes from. Being over a healthy weight is because of a combination of many things. When a person is dangerously overweight they have a lot of fat.
The most common way to measure overweight and obesity is he body mass indicator. The higher the body mass indicator is, the more dangerously overweight that a person is. Our country is growing at an alarming rate and while the number of people who are not at the correct weight has remained the same, the number of those who are dangerously overweight has gone up more than one hundred percent. Not being at a healthy weight has many health implications that can lead to an early death. The more that a person weighs, the more health risks that they face.
Clearly, this problem must be addressed, but saying that and doing that are two different things. It is not a simple matter of getting a large group of people together to do a bunch of six pack ab exercises, before they go to work in the morning, it is a much deeper problem that needs to be attacked on many levels with people of all ages. Kids are growing up in an environment in which they are learning that it is normal to be obese. One out of every three children are at risk of not being at the correct weight for their age and height. Because of this people are living shorter lives.
Television and technology are a major culprit in the problem of obesity. Kids are not as active as they used to be because they are entranced by the boob tube. If they are not watching a television show they are sitting down playing video games for hours on end. Our lives are full of the messages that are all around us enticing us to live a lifestyle that leads itself to obesity. Our nation often seems to survive on the processed foods that are shown on commercials. There are also numerous advertisements for products that promise to show a person how to lose weight fast, thus giving us the false sense of security that we can get our weight under control any time that we want to without having to do any real work, all we have to do is take a pill and watch the fat melt away. But those weight loss products cannot solve a weight problem alone. The weight loss plans need to be combined with a proper diet and exercise. It is the combination of eating right and exercising regularly that will lead a person to proper weight.
Reality TV has given us a show that is making being dangerously overweight seem more popular. On the reality show The Biggest Loser the contestants have gotten bigger and bigger, and now there are posts on the biggest loser forum that question whether the show is sending the right message by choosing people who are morbidly obese instead of choosing overweight people that more of the fans of the show can relate too. It is truly amazing what the contestants accomplish on the show, but it does not mean that everyone is that big.
We can no longer ignore the fact that there are many people who struggle with weight issues. While the adults of the country need to get healthier, it is more important to teach the children of the country how to live a healthy lifestyle. The only way that the youngster can learn how to live a healthy lifestyle, is if we teach them. The trend of more people being obese rather than overweight must be reversed. If we want our kids to grow up healthy and happy, than we have no choice but to lead the way for them.