ObesityEpidemic.Org

Obesity Epidemic

There is an alarming trend that has been going on since the 1960s. It is the fattening up of America. Waistlines are expanding along with heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and cancer. The problem isn't one of willpower, but of toxicity. Three main problems are that the (1) food environment is toxic, (2) city infrastructures are toxic, and the (3) culture is toxic.

Toxic Food Environment

Food Proximity

Food proximity is known to increase caloric consumption. The idea is simple. Put your favorite candy right next to you every day and see if you eat more or less. Studies show that you will eat a lot more calories if the bad food is close to you. Have you ever noticed that there are candy bars at every check stand in America. There are soda fountains in restaurants, convenience stores, hardware stores, contractor stores, and more. Mcdonalds has a goal to be less than four minutes from your home. There is an abundance of food proximity of unhealthy foods. Food proximity is increasing our food consumption.

Food Advertising

Do you realize that about 50% of ads on children's television are for junk food? Studies show that the kids will eat about twice as much junk food after seeing the ads. If given the choice of foods to eat, children that just previewed ads are proven to make worse food eating decisions. In other words, the advertising is very effective. Why else would food companies spend billions on the advertising?

Adults are not immune to the advertising either. Have you ever seen a food ad and went to the store to buy it? Was it for apples and oranges or say a cheeseburger, fries, and a drink. People may think it is only one time, but what happens is that people develop good habits or bad habits. The food companies want you to develop a habit because it is a revenue stream for them. The one time good deal you saw in an ad is more about developing your habit than it is about eating out once or twice.

I had a great idea. How about a billboard near every fast food joint that says fast food causes obesity. It might be a better message than fries and soda taste great. Eat up!

Cheap Capitalistic Foods

Food is produced so that the owners of the company make a profit. There is not a large incentive to make good quality food. The reason is that consumers can't really tell what they are eating. The consumers aren't that sophisticated in their understanding. For example, how can you know how the chicken was raised before it came to your home? It's not like the grocery store manager is going to tell you. You might watch something on the news once in a while, but is that really give you an in depth informational choice? Not really.

Companies, left to their own ideas, will make decisions in their own interests. They hire chemists to put addictive additives in the food. They work with the chemicals to enhance flavors. Sugar and other "harmless" drugs are added to nearly everything. Scientific studies show that consumption of these chemicals alters the body. People eat more of foods that have chemical additives. There is a real food addiction going on that makes it hard for people to lose weight.

City Infrastructure

People are crammed into smaller and smaller spaces. Does it really make sense to go running down a busy downtown block breathing exhaust fumes, dodging people and traffic, and having people stare at you. It may sound trite, but there are lots of people that don't feel comfortable exercising where they live. Some neighborhoods are so dangerous that people don't dare go out. In some states the streets are very narrow and there are no sidewalks to run or walk on. These may sound like excuses, but people do not exercise all that much. The Surgeon General recommends at least 30 minutes on most days of the week. Studies are showing that few people are getting the exercise.

On a brighter note, Colorado has one of the lowest obesity rates in the US. The main reason for this is that the infrastructure for doing outdoor activities is much better than most states. The political arena there cares about the problem. In fact, Colorado also works with local restaurants to try and get meals to be portioned correctly and low in calories.

Toxic Culture

Sugar Intake

With obesity, the most important thing to control is your sugar intake. Sugar spikes insulin that will then transform sugar and store it into fat cells. In addition, excess sugar intake is the cause of food binging and overeating. Why? It is natural for the body, after eating sugar, to say eat more. Then, after the blood glucose crashes, the bodies natural reaction is to eat until the blood sugar comes back up. It is an unhealthy eating cycle.

Holidays

What is the food for Halloween? Sugar. What is the food for Valentines day? Sugar. What comes with Thanksgiving dinner. Pie and ice cream (sugar). What do people bring you around Christmas? Cookies, candies, breads, pies, chocolate. Again, it is a lot of sugar. How do people celebrate birthdays? Cake and ice cream (sugar). Sugar tastes good and is everywhere. How difficult it is to avoid it. Do you want to be the person that says not to all the holiday splurges? If you are overweight or obese, you need to be the example and say no. This is part of the toxic culture. Americans love to celebrate with something sweet.

Eating for Love

What do people often do for fun? Dinner and a movie is probably the most often thing done by couples. People get together as friends and go out to dinner. People like to celebrate lots of little things by eating ice cream, cakes, cookies, and chocolates. Does food say, "I love you"? It sounds a little preposterous, but just read some of the chocolates at Valentines Day that read I Love You.

Here is part of the emotional eating that takes place. If you are feeling down, you might want to celebrate something with friends or family by eating. How do you celebrate without eating and make it fun? The truth is that a lot of people do not know how to celebrate or have a good time without food. Maybe, as a culture, it would be good to celebrate in other ways. The fact is that around two thirds of the population is either overweight or obese.

Summary

Losing weight is about educating yourself, monitoring trends, and sticking with weight loss plans. There are a lot of reasons for obesity and understanding why people are obese will help you to avoid many of the pitfalls.