A Candid View of Obesity
A victim of childhood obesity, I had been obese and out of shape for four decades; I have now been thin for over six years, and getting strong for the last three years. I think it’s time we took a candid look at obesity in America.
Obesity is neither a natural nor a healthy condition. Adult animals in the wild are fit. Food is rarely plentiful enough for many, if any, to get fat, despite the fact that every day they eat all they can get. If wild animals had as much food available to them as we do, many would be obese, as nature has provided a drive in all living things to eat what they can when they can as there will be times of scarcity. Survival in the wild depends on fitness; if an animal in the wild did get fat, it wouldn’t last long, an entire obese herd is impossibility.
For millions of us,
work is sitting at a computer and talking on the phone; our desk drawers contain
stashes of snacks we draw on during the day. We have available to us processed,
inexpensive, fast food, junk food, and non-food throughout the day and
for meals. Our natural drive is to eat all we can get and many do. The number
of food commercials, particularly those aimed at children, young children, is astounding.
There has been a culture-wide acceptance of the condition of overweight and less-than-massive obesity: television ads, department store posters, TV news reporters, our
friends, co-workers, family and the mirror all show larger people. Once hidden
lairs in the basement or on the third floor, plus size sections are now
prominently labeled; regular mannequins have been replaced with larger sized
figures to represent the larger sized customers, and plus sized mannequins have
been created. For the first time ever, junior sizes are available in
plus size.
In school, I was
somewhat of a freak at 135 pounds in the sixth grade, in 1962, compared to my
classmates who hovered in the nineties; I was 180 pounds in high school, while
most of the other girls fretted over pushing 115. When was the last time you
watched a high school dismiss? The
acceptance of obesity, both personally and societally, has now become the norm.
The percentage of Baby Boomers (my generation) at buffet restaurants or in fast
food lines who are obese is in the 60% plus range. Yet, our concept of obesity
is skewed; when we think obese, we think fat lady in the circus size, when the
truth is that a person who is 30 percent overweight is obese; a woman who
should weigh 135 is obese at 175 pounds. The majority of obese people,
including many morbidly obese (100 pounds over normal) consider themselves
overweight, but not obese.
The insurance companies, medical community, state and federal government
all are sounding the alarm about the obesity epidemic. Increasingly the focus
is on childhood obesity, for two reasons: first, it may already be too late to
take on the adult obese, currently a clear majority in this country, and secondly,
while adult obesity is tossed around verbally and in print in a politically
correct manner as to show appropriate concern, it is actually a taboo subject,
and for anyone in government to tackle it head on is certain political suicide.
But how can you not love a candidate who is pushing to save the children?
Another challenge facing government is that more than a decade of tacit approval of a population annually
getting exponentially more overweight and obese has sanctioned obesity. Our
economy has grown around it. Fast food, processed foods, an entire diet
industry (over 30 billion dollars a year), a newly rocketing plus size clothing
industry: despite any saber rattling of government, industry, and the medical
community, if any significant portion of the obese population were to reach
normal weight it would create havoc with the American economy.
Long term overweight and obesity has medical consequences, and a high price tag. As the Baby Boomer generation ages overweight and obese, and young adults embrace an obese culture, the costs to government provided health services and supplements, and the related problems will increasingly effect every American socially and financially.
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It is time for all Americans to take a candid look at obesity and the effects it has on our
society and on the future of our nation.
Disclaimer: This article
is educational in nature, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or
prevent any disease. If you have a medical condition, please consult your
physician.
