The obesity rate for adults has doubled and that of children has tripled since 1

1. 80

   yogaburnclubposted 6 years ago

   The obesity rate for adults has doubled and that of children has tripled since 1980 what can be done
   
   Is it wrong diet, lack of exercise or GMO foods and how does the future look like.Who has the solution to this situation?
   
   

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2. 92

   Jeremy Gillposted 6 years ago

   Hi Jesse, all of your points are contributing factors. Also, as technology advances, we gain new conveniences that improve quality of life but remove physical aspects, furthering the problem (elevators, for instance).
   
   Still, the main issue is diet. Exercise helps lose weight, but diets are far more relevant to body fat. Quick and cheap fast foods, especially McDonald's and Starbucks, attract people who don't want to break the bank or have to cook. .
   
   So, what can we do? People don't often realize that not all healthy meals are expensive. Grab some low-calorie Slim Jims, fruit snacks, or rice treats from Dollar Tree or Wal-Mart. Discover tasty beverages that don't pack a hoard of calories (I'm partial to flavored carbonated water). Children don't often have the freedom to choose what food to eat, so we can help them by encouraging healthy lunch programs and providing them with nutritious meals. Finally, find some sort of exercise, even if it's light, that you enjoy so it's not a chore. Walking, swimming, biking, anything.
   
   It will take time, but our nation can recover from its obesity epidemic.

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3. 79

   dashingscorpioposted 6 years ago

   
   
   More and more people eat fast food far more frequently than previous generations,
   Food that is fast, hot, convenient and at low price is in major demand along with sweet sugary soft drinks with free refills. A lot of people don't want to make home cooked meals.
   The U.S. has gone from being a large physical manufacturing job industry to being more of a high tech, service industry, and sedentary job creator. We're less active.
   As you noted GMO & adding hormones to animals play a part.
   Depression: The U.S. is one of the most depressed countries in the world, according to the World Health Organization. We also take more prescription drugs than any other nation. It's not uncommon for depressed people to overeat or lack energy to be physically active.
   And to some extent political correctness and the desire to make being fat or obese more acceptable in the public conscious may have some unintended consequence. Generally once you remove a "stigma" you get more of it such as premarital sex, cohabitating, having children out of wedlock as other examples.
   Demands have been made for toymakers to start making overweight dolls, have the fashion industry to include "plus size models" and so on. Calling someone fat today is now considered "fat shaming" and not stating a fact.

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4. 83

   tsmogposted 6 years ago

   Start over? Interestingly obesity does not occur overnight, yet many want an overnight solution for it when they are obese.
   
   Changing obesity in the U.S. is like solving a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. The answers here so far show some of the pieces. Basically, there are two avenues to take with obesity; prevent and repair. Understanding wellness is a key and then developing a workable lifestyle to achieve wellness. That applies to prevention and repair.
   
   Some of those pieces are well known; nutrition, exercise, and rest. There are other maybe obscure ones too like cortisol and that is related to stress. That fosters overeating and cravings for comfort foods; sugars and carbs. Mom can I have a cookie? Grab a piece or two of candy or handful of chips after work?
   
   A question can be asked is stress as epidemic in the U.S. as is obesity beginning with babies? For intance, how stressful is noise to a baby like a TV when napping. I know when I sleep with the TV on it influences my dream phase of sleep. Is that stressful? So, is knowledge of stress and its management a key?

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