Written By: Hyaal Wehab
One of the largest rising issues in our nation today is the issue of Obesity. Obesity has always been an issue, but as time goes on, it continues to become worse and worse. For my post this week, I read an article regarding the rising issue of obesity in America, and how our nation hopes to cope with it, and the solutions they have created.
Out of the approximate 318.9 million people living in America, about two-thirds of the population faces obesity. Obesity did not only form from the poor eating habits formed by americans as the years have gone on, but it is also from the genetic aspect of our lives. Humans have evolved to store fats, due to our ancestors that were once hunters and gatherers. Since they were always on their feet and raised to be so physical, they ate an abundance of food for energy, but it never affected their weight much do to their constant physical activity. Now many americans are classified as “lazy”, or they do not participate in a lot of physical activity, so that abundance of food that we still consume just stores itself and turns into fat. Much of the reason that this is, is that, we tend to eat much bigger portions than normal, and we don’t balance our portions out with activity, hence the fact that we are not as active as we should be.
On average, the average american (whom does not eat properly nor work out) gains about a pound to a pound and a half per week. The reason for this is not only because of the lack of exercise we get, but also because, eating is not just to contain and relieve hunger, but it has become a form of emotional, social and cultural relief as well. As the issue of obesity in America continues to grow, the American Diabetes Association (AMA), and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) have sat down together to find ways to cope with the increase of obese populations in America and hopefully find a way to decrease obesity as a whole. They have come up with many ways to help patients lose weight, and they have come to the conclusion that it is a variety of many things that come into play for proper weight loss. The most recommended strategy is a blend of proper diets (since different diets work for different people, portion control, watching calories, self monitoring, gradual increase in physical activity, and most importantly, proper motivation. If an individual facing obesity takes these steps in changing their health, they will achieve positive results in a matter of time.
All in all, personally, this article has helped bring to my attention how serious the issue of obesity is, and how important it is to take care of our bodies. Taking care of ourselves can not only improve our current health, but it can also improve our future health for years ahead, when we are much older. I hope that this post will help my audience understand the importance of clean eating and physical activity just like it helped me.
While I agree that it is an epidemic we face in America it also begs the question of the solution being obtainable. It's easy to say that this, this, and this will lead to a healthy life but what about the cost of these steps? Without proper funding it's hard to think of a healthier America, do you believe that funding should be increased for this to help the average person live a healthy and long life, or should it be pushed onto the individual and used for other medical research?
ReplyDelete