How Big Is Too Big
Our nation has more people who are obese than those who are just overweight. This is not just a guess, this has been studied. Is this something that should worry us? They are determined by the way that the pounds on a person are distributed over one’s body and are a result of the total amount of pounds that are carried. Being over a healthy weight is because of a combination of many things. The trouble is cause when a person has too much fat on their body.
A person can say how many pounds they are but it is better to use a ratio that takes into account the number of pounds in relation to a person’s height. The higher the body mass indicator is, the more dangerously overweight that a person is. In the past thirty years the number of those in the danger zone has increased two fold while the number of people who are just at an unhealthy weight has not changed. Not being at a healthy weight has many health implications that can lead to an early death. These health complications are more prevalent among those who have the highest BMI rather than those whose BMI is not as high.
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. It is up to the older generation to show the younger generation the right way to live healthy lives. Over thirty percent of our countries kids are not at a healthy weight. 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. It takes a complete fitness program for a person to lose weight. The combined effort can help transform a person.
There is one source of entertainment that makes it appear cool to be very fat. 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. The show does depict miraculous transformations, but not all of us need that big of a transformation.
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.
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