The Rise of Obesity

Today, I want to touch on the rise of obesity... At school pick up, I am shocked by the amount of obesity I see, from both the kids and the parents.  Truth is, a lot of factors impact obesity, some within our control, and some outside of our control.  The genetic factors, such as metabolism and how our bodies respond to food, is very individual.  Example: I have friends who eat way more healthy than I do, and they struggle with their weight more than I do.  A few years ago, I had a complete hysterectomy and my hormones were way out of whack (menopause at 36 - funsies!).  I certainly noticed a change in my weight once my body wasn't producing estrogen any more.  These factors are things we are just 'dealt' and we have to find a way to do the best we can with what we have to work with.

Another reason for the rise of obesity is a more sedentary lifestyle.  While most of us were growing up, we came home to play outside until dark.  Now, the first thing my 6 year old asks for after school is if he can play Minecraft. Sidenote: I don't get Minecraft.  It's like the graphics are pre-Nintendo.  I think my 1984 Atari had similar graphics to Minecraft.  At the same token, adults used to work in factory or manual labor jobs, now, many jobs can be done all day with out even leaving your home or desk.  Heck, we don't even have to walk over to our office neighbor to tell them something, we simply send a chat or text.

It's my personal opinion that the biggest contributor to obesity is the food we eat.  The truth is, we can't out-exercise the food we put in our bodies.  I've trained for half marathons, logging 20+ miles a week and I couldn't out-work my poor food choices, trust me, I tried!  Let's say I do an hour of strenuous exercise and I burn around 400 calories... That can be easily undone with 2 pieces of pizza for lunch and let's be honest here, who only eats 2 pieces of pizza, especially after you've 'earned' it by completing a hard workout?  I know awhile back, there was a big push from the government to get moving... Nothing wrong with that!  But, getting your kiddo moving for 20 minutes a day is going to have minimal impact on the obesity rates.

For many of us, we were raised with 'health food' being pasta, bread and bagels and all things low fat (which were loaded with sugar).  I sh!# you not!  A lot of this idea came from the government produced food pyramid.  Anyone remember seeing this set up in health class?

Of course, now more recent research has told us to reduce the amount of sugars and carbs we eat and some ways of eatings even tout high fat, protein and low carb.  And, even when we acknowledge the new information, it can be extremely difficult to change our way of thinking that fat isn't the enemy.  And, since the high carb, low fat lifestyle is what many of us were raised on, that is what we are comfortable eating ourselves and feeding our kids.  It's going to take decades to change the thoughts we have about what constitutes 'healthy' eating.

The last rise of obesity is our busy lifestyle and our dependence on fast food.  Y'all, I'm not pointing fingers - I'm so guilty of this, too!  We cram so much into our busy lives, we are headed to soccer practice with the kids and need to feed them.  I used to buy into the argument that eating health was expensive.  But, it's not eating 'healthy' (I use the term healthy loosely because most salads have the same amount of calories than the burgers) that is expensive, it is the convenience that is expensive.  Let's say a fast food meal will run you around $6.  A McSalad might run you $8.  The truth is, we could buy a pound of lunch meat, bread, cheese and a bunch of bananas for $8 and have lunches for the entire week.  It isn't the healthy food that is expensive, it's the convenience.

Just wanted to present some food for thought as we discuss the rise of obesity.