Why America Is Obese
The collectively growing waistline of the U.S. is an undeniable problem. As we become more obese, America is putting it’s money where it’s mouth is – literally. It is a simple fact that many health complications are side-effects of the obesity epidemic. The logical question is – why is America obese?
Why America Is Obese
Turns out there is an answer to this question. When we think about weight loss, it’s done within the confines of exercise. We (myself included) tend to think of weight loss from the perspective of calories expended, rather than from the consumption side of the equation. When we plan a weight loss strategy, its about getting time at the gym instead of avoiding the Big Mac and fries. It took me a long time to come to this realization, but I’ve been fairly confident for some time that its correct. Turns out there’s some actual research on this subject.
Photo credit permanently scatterbrained
Early on in this endeavor, I wrote about food consumption in America. It’s an interesting subject. (I lead a boring life.) But taking data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it can be easily seen that Americans eat more on a daily basis than we did 30 years ago. Researchers have proven that this is the reason more people in America are obese. They developed a predictive model and applied it to both children and adults, and showed that the increase in food consumption was almost entirely responsible for weight gain in children today. In adults, they actually went over by a small amount, predicting that we would be 23.8-pounds heavier than our 1970-selves. In reality, we are 18.9-pounds heavier, which they claim to be a by-product of increased physical activity. They go on to say that if Americans cut an average of 500-calories from their daily diets (350 for kids), we would lighten the scales to our slim and trim 1970’s selves. Hopefully without the polyester leisure suits.
Let’s take a moment to consider what that would take for adults to cut this 500-calories from our average diet. Bear in mind, we’re not talking about completely eliminating these foods, just cutting them from our average eating routine. Each of us would need to cut one of the following from our daily routine:
- Three 12-ounce sodas
- One Big Mac
- One medium french fry
- Two packages of about any candy (Peanut M&M’s, Snickers Bar, Pay Day, etc.)
- Three buttered biscuits
- A medium milkshake (pick your favorite restaurant)
- Pan Crust pizza (Fried Pizza Crust – yum!)
- Two slices of thick crust garlic bread
You get the point. For many of us, it’s not really hard to cut out 500-calories a day out of our diets. It’s more about finding the willpower to make it happen. But AndrewE said it best when commenting about daily exercise to lose weight. “Eat right to lose weight. Exercise to keep fit.” Period.
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Well said. Opportunists continue to market diets and products meant to deal with the obesity issue, citing “research” that indicates that everything but human behavior is responsible for the increase in American waistlines (you can prove a flat-Earth theory if you have a strong enough profit motive). But, in reality, I think it’s simple to see that portion sizes and calorie consumption have grown over the last generation while technology has reduced the need or desire for human movement. A clear recipe for weight gain.
Heh…I said it but I too have trouble sticking to it.