By: Heidi Wagenbach
“It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit.”
– Socrates
Part I: Introduction
There is an abundance of people in the United States of all colors, shapes, and sizes. While that diversity is amazing and is what shaped this country from the start, condoning fat as “beautiful” and “healthy” is to say the very least inaccurate. I’m all about body positivity, and have been combating that since high school after developing an eating disorder that gave me a health scare. It was then and there that I knew I would never let myself restrict food to the point where I was sick again but also never let myself just binge food I knew was bad for my body. I maintain the view of “everything in moderation” (you bet I’m going to indulge a cookie here and there). I try to live an active lifestyle by exercising every morning and staying busy at work.
Part II: Dollars, Depression, Disease, and Death
Obesity affects a person’s general well-being. Fatness alters your mental health (i.e. developing anxiety and/or depression) and your long term health as well. It’s linked to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia (high lipid [fat/cholesterol] content in your blood), high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Being overweight accounts for 18% of deaths amongst Americans between ages 40 and 85, according to a 2013 study. (This number is comparable to cigarette smoking, which is the leading preventable cause of death in the US, with 1 out of 5 Americans dying every year). Obese people are 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to die of heart disease than people with normal BMIs (you can find the link to calculating your own at the end of this article).
Your health is affected, but also the medical cost of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment is estimated to cost billions of dollars overall.
Part III: Why?
Reasons for this epidemic are varied. Some debate that the increase in caloric intake and reduction of physical activity is to blame. Because 21st century America is becoming more of a service rather than a manufacturing economy, only 20% of jobs require some moderate activity and we burn 120-140 less calories a day than we did 50 years ago. We have cars and buses and walk less, therefore 80% of Americans don’t get enough exercise. Others say that diets are not effective in controlling or reversing weight gain (although $20 billion goes into weight loss programs per year). The rest argue that the bigger portion sizes, alongside added meat/grain/fat consumption is why we’re gaining weight; fast food makes up 11% of the average American diet.
Part IV: How We Got Here
In the 1960s, our enemy was fat. So, the demand for low fat and fat free products skyrocketed, yet that was too good to be true. Hydrogenated oils and trans fats were added, raising bad cholesterol and leading to weight gain with high sugar content.
Basically… the formula for balancing your weight is factoring in the total number of calories consumed versus the total calories used. Farmers back in the olden days used to eat bacon, eggs, and potatoes every morning, but guess what? They burned all of that off by working in the fields from dawn till dusk.
(Caption: Food portions and peoples’ stomachs are both getting bigger).
Part V: The Younger Generation and Contributing Factors
Children are also suffering from this epidemic; ⅓ of kids in the US are overweight. They are getting less sleep, and watch (on average) 4 hours of TV per day (with video games and technology becoming so accessible to younger audiences, that number will continue to rise). They are more prone to developing stress and low self-esteem.
Some more contributing factors that are leading to people’s weights becoming extreme include:
Income
Healthy and fresh foods can be more expensive than fast or packaged food. Living far from locations that sell produce are called “food deserts,” where 23 million Americans reside, according to the US Department of Agriculture. They may lack money for a gym membership or live in a not-so-safe neighborhood where going on a jog is intimidating. However, you can exercise at home (like many are doing because of the pandemic) and save more money cooking your own meals instead of ordering takeout every day.
(Let’s say that an average fast food meal is $5. You’re spending $15 a day if you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or $105 weekly; $420 monthly; $5,040 yearly. And that’s being generous; most restaurants charge closer to $20 a meal if you’re looking for something higher quality).
Time
Making a good meal is a process that most people don’t want to do (prepping, cooking, cleaning). With a busy schedule, eating healthy becomes a second thought, and pulling up through a drive-thru is convenient when you’re a single parent with 3 kids.
Health Insurance
Like a lot of Americans, health insurance is a luxury that not many can afford. If you don’t have the resources to see a doctor or weight loss specialist, then it’s inevitable you won’t be educated about how to take care of yourself.
Stress
As mentioned above, when people are stressed, they reach for comfort foods, like potato chips and cake, which are packed with salt, sugar, and fat.
Part VI: Other Suffering Countries
According to Global Obesity Levels, the small island of Nauru is the most highly populated obese country, with 61% of the residents being overweight. Their diet consists of a vast amount of seafood, coconuts, and fruits (limiting your diet to only a few high-sugar items will hinder, not help, your body). Next up is the Cook Islands, with 55.9% of the population being overweight, not surprisingly with a very similar diet. More than half of Palau and Marshall Islands’ citizens are overweight (eating root vegetables, breadfruit, coconut, rice, flour, and seafood), followed by Tuvalu clocking in at 51.6%. The United States ranks #12, and need I describe the foods we eat? Yes, the above countries may have higher rates, but at least their food is natural and not McDonald’s.
Part VII: Ways To Improve
A noticeable reduction in national obesity could take over a decade but there are some suggestions that could help combat this surge of illness. A few select cities are already placing taxes on sugary foods and drinks, or making their nutrition labels more effective to describe the ingredients. Limiting the amount of advertising and marketing of unhealthy foods, especially to youngsters, will help the future US know what eating poorly does to your body.
Part VIII: Conclusion
Obesity is something that has been around for many years, and will undoubtedly worsen if we continue down this path we’re on. I find it interesting that there is such a broad spectrum of people in the world, some who have disorders where they see themselves as too fat so they deprive themselves of basic nutrition, and others who know they need to change, but never do, whether that be through laziness, stubbornness, an unwillingness to even try or broader health issues. I would say that a safe bet would be to skip the burger joint on the way home and eat a salad for dinner instead. It would be a small but huge step just to make sure that you live a healthy life for many years to come.
Part IX: Sources
Calculate your BMI by clicking here.
Rising Obesity in the United States Is a Public Health Crisis
5 Reasons Americans Are Obese – That Have Nothing To Do With Food
… The US Sugar Industry Funded One of the Biggest Misconceptions in Modern Nutrition