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America the Obese
America the
beautiful, land of the free, home of the brave, and a nation of fatties.
A recently released report ranked obesity in America state by state and
the news is not good. Not a solitary US state can lay claim to having
zero obese residents living there. Even Massachusetts which was 50th
on the list is not a winner with nearly 20 percent of its residents
being obese. Mississippi heads the list with over 30 percent of its
residents suffering from obesity. However before you go pointing fingers
at our neighbors in Mississippi as the heavyweights of our nation, you
should take a look at the numbers of obese adults living in your own
state using the convenient link provided at the bottom of this article.
Obesity is
not a new problem for us here in the United States, but each year as a
nation grow fatter and we are raising our children with the same
sedentary, and junk food filled lifestyles that have led us to become a
nation where obesity has reached epidemic proportions. If we do not stop
stuffing ourselves with Twinkies and McDonald's while ignoring this
problem, it will only continue to get worse and the consequences on our
health care system, work force, social security funds, economy, leading
position to compete with other countries, quality of living and life
spans will decrease dramatically.
We cannot
look to the conglomerates of the diet industry and food manufacturers
for the solvents to this immediate and long term hazard to the health
and well being of the people of these great United States. We have
looked to them to make our choices for us for far too long and it has
only resulted in us getting fatter and unhealthier as each year passes.
This is not a slam against the diet and food manufacturing industries
per say. They saw an opportunity to exploit and profit from the
willingness of Americans to have their choices in readily available
"fast" foods made for consumption in the US, and decided for them, and
the responsibility of policing their own eating and exercising habits
given up instead to a reliance on diets and diet products to lose weight
for them.
Just as we
cannot look to the diet industry and food manufacturers for the answers,
we cannot place all of the blame on them either. There is enough
credible educational information that has been made available through
the years that most adults know that they are choosing to engage in the
unhealthy eating and exercise habits that are making them
obese. Children on the other hand are learning these ghastly habits
through the poor example we as adults have set for them.
We need to
look to the nonpartisan entities that are truly concerned about the
state of the health of Americans and who offer unbiased information and
guidance towards solving the crisis of obesity that we are experiencing
here and now in the United States. We also need to begin to hold
ourselves accountable for the shape we are in. We need to stop looking
to point fingers at everyone else and accept responsibility for taking
better care of ourselves and to recognize that choosing not to, not only
affects us, but our country as a whole.
It is not
as complicated as we make it by avoiding the issue. The only true paths
to health and a long life are not found in processed foods or the diet
isles. Foods in their natural forms are the healthiest for us, providing
many of the vitamins and minerals we need. Exercise is also necessary
for health and for maintaining a healthy weight. Annual checkups and
screenings to catch diseases at the earliest possible stages will save
the most lives and save the most in health care costs. Educating
children so that they develop healthy eating and exercising habits
should start in preschool and we cannot afford to say that the funding
for this is impossible. Our future and the future of the children, who
will be our leaders one day, will be decided by each of us deciding to
get up off our behinds and moving towards solving the rampant obesity in
America. For all of our sakes I hope we get a move on soon, before
it is too late.
How fat is
your state. See for yourself here. http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2007
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