Weight Loss Articles

These past few years, everybody has been hearing more about the consequences of obesity. Things have been becoming gradually worse for the past two decades, but we seem to just now be realizing this. The U.S. has the greatest obesity rate in the developed world. The amount of overweight adolescents and grown-ups has doubled in the past quarter century. 32% of the total adults over 20 and seventeen percent of all children were overweight as of 2004. This means that millions are obese and endangering their health. The rate of obesity continues to escalate in America and other developed nations and is now one of the biggest health threats in the country. What happened to make us all so big? Many environmental factors that are now an American way of life are believed to be the causes of this general increased girth.

During the 1980's, Americans began to started to make many lifestyle changes that caused it to become a more sedentary lifestyle. Eating habits was the primary thing. Meals that used to be consumed at home and cooked by the homemaker are now more and more often eaten in restaurants and fast food chains. Fast food portions that were common in earlier years are 2-3 times bigger in today's competitive restaurants. Fast food chains like the McDonald's chain have have had a lot of criticizing for their super sizing high calorie sodas and french fries in the past, but a cheeseburger available in many of today's most popular restaurants may be over two times the size of a McDonald's Big Mac, with an amount of fries to match this unhealthy meal. Only one of these super-sized meals can be somebody's entire day's necessary calories.

Obesity is measured with a body mass index, or BMI. The risk for getting serious health problems goes up as ones BMI raises. There are three levels of obesity; mild obesity with a BMI of 30+, morbid obesity at BMI 40+, and malignant obesity with a BMI of 50+. An average person has half the risk of getting a life threatening medical issue than an overweight individual who is 40% overweight. Obesity causes the death of an estimated 112,000 people in this country per year. Just some of the possible ailments that come along with being overweight are; cancer, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, and liver disease. Swollen legs, loss of bowel control, breathing problems, and depression are just some examples of symptoms of obesity that are not life threatening but could quickly turn into that.

Affluence is another major reason that seems to link to obesity. As people in wealthy countries acquire more and more wealth, the requirement or concern to save is diminished gradually. Children that a couple of generations ago would have been more controlled on food choices because of a parent's income nowadays are allowed more choices in what they choose to eat. Kids now get their earliest eating experiences eating rich, unhealthy restaurant foods with their parents. The U.S. Makes nearly triple the food than U.S. residents eat, so the majority of people are not thinking about where or how the food is made and go more by food cravings.

Another huge reason for being over weight is the sedentary lifestyle that many of us live. Most of us have cars and use them to get everywhere they go, even if it is a very short distance. Most people have difficulty finding the time to exercise because of busy lifestyles or crazy work schedules. As technology has advanced most jobs are becoming less physical. This Causes people who come home from work and rest because they are worn out from their job will get little or no physical activity all day long.

Obesity affects you whether you're overweight or not. An estimated 275,000,000 dollars a year is what we are spending in air fares due to increased fuel charges to make up for the extra weight and lawsuits to widen passenger seats brought on by overweight people. A yearly total of 78,500,000,000 dollars is the cost of treating the number of health problems started because of obesity, as it creates nearly 10% of all medical expenditures. The cheeseburger bill of 2004 was introduced by lawmakers to try to offer some protection for food makers after lawsuits with overweight plaintiffs became so prevalent.