We're fat and it's killing us, according to the American Cancer Society. Yet every cloud has a silver lining. Case in point: experts suggest that the rising rate of obesity will translate into shorter life spans, which in turn will keep the Social Security system solvent. But what a price to pay!
Dr. David S. Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital Boston, states, "There is an unprecedented increase in prevalence of obesity at younger and younger ages without much obvious public health impact. But when they [people] start developing heart attack, stroke, kidney failures, amputations, blindness and ultimately death at younger ages, then that could be a huge effect on life expectancy."
Not all experts agree with his dark prediction. Critics argue that medical advances will offset the rising incidence of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure and cancer, which are striking people at younger and younger ages.
Based on the medical tools we have available today, however, the predictions seem sound. In a study presented to the International Congress on Obesity in Stockholm, researchers found that men who are obese at age 20 died an average of eight years earlier than other men. Medical researcher Esther Zimmermann based this conclusion on the military records of 5,530 Danish men, starting at age 20 and ending at age 80. For 70 percent of the men, the excess weight plagued them throughout their adult years, and they were twice as likely to die in any given year as their slim counterparts. Moreover, few survived to age 80.
Since most people seem unable to lose weight on their own, despite the popularity of dieting and lower-calorie food products, the medicalization of obesity is rapidly occurring. Fueling this development is the growing demand for surgical and chemical solutions. The difficulty with this approach, however, is that the body does what it is intended to do--store surplus calories as fat. Storing fat is a natural process, unlike an illness, tumor growth or liver failure. Any medical solution must make the body work in a way that was never intended, hence the difficulty in engineering a safe and reliable medical solution.
Moreover, even though individual weight loss transformations have been popularized by "The Biggest Loser" television program, changing one's lifestyle by adding exercise and removing surplus calories is too difficult for many.
Yet some individuals do succeed.
My nephew, Leif, beat the odds. Leif was overweight growing up, and after high school graduation he packed even more bulk on his five-foot-ten frame. His weight approached 300 pounds. Leif finally decided to lose weight and started walking, then running. He didn't have surgery; instead, he eliminated carbonated beverages and began drinking water and eating fruits, vegetables and lean meats. He completed army basic training in 2008, and today he weighs under 180 pounds.
Photo courtesy of Leif Briddle
Leif improved his odds of living to 80 by electing--at a young age--to make healthful lifestyle changes. He is also an exception in terms of overall population trends.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 30 percent of the residents of nine states are now obese. Ten years ago, no state reported this level of obesity among residents. Among children, the rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades.
Certainly, the rising incidence of obesity argues for intervention at the community level. We can't simply stand by and hope for spontaneous transformations like Leif's. We need tools and programs with proven results and the resources to implement them. Employing role models and mentors is proving to be an effective strategy. Another increasingly popular tool is group weight-loss programs implemented in local communities and through online coaching.
Eight years ago, our small northern California community pioneered a group weight loss event, the Nevada County Meltdown, where over a thousand people lost nearly four tons in eight weeks. (You can watch the video here.) Even more impressive, however, is what happened since.
As a result of increased awareness, education, programs and leadership, our community has lowered the incidence of children at risk for obesity from 33 percent, the national average according to the American Heart Association, to 15 percent. Beyond our borders, dozens of on-the-ground community-based group weight-loss events, similar to the Nevada County Meltdown, are occurring daily across the country.
In addition, dozens of virtual communities have been created to offer free weight loss support for members. SparkPeople.com is one of the most popular, and I coach the AARP Fat 2 Fit online community, whose membership has quickly grown to 17,000. The Fat 2 Fit community is free (membership in AARP is not required) and welcomes all ages.
Further evidence that we are finally tackling the issue of obesity at the community level is the creation of First Lady Michelle Obama's highly visible Childhood Obesity Task Force.
The agenda of the task force is far-reaching: provide better prenatal medical care; introduce more nutritious school lunches; offer healthier children's menus at restaurants; reduce junk food marketing to children; increase physical exercise during school hours; replace food deserts in inner cities with food oases, where fresh, affordable and nutritious food is accessible; and expand public health information on key issues, such as drinking water instead of sugared soda.
To succeed in reversing the trend of increasing obesity, we'll need to introduce and use all of these tools and programs as well as many more. We will also need to borrow freely from successful models for changing behavior, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. In explaining why Alcoholics Anonymous works, Brendan Koerner writes, "Psychologists have long known that one of the best ways to change human behavior is to gather people with similar problems into a group, but researchers continue to be surprised by just how powerful this effect is."
The spread of obesity and its massive implications for our nation's health, wealth and security demand a group solution with a powerful effect. Can we harness the power of group genius to address the issue? With so many of us working in creative collaboration in so many venues and across so many disciplines, surely we'll find strategies to restore the likelihood of a long and healthy life for future generations.


Follow Carole Carson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CaroleCarson
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If you are overweight, and happy with that, knowing the consequences, then by all means don't change. But if you are overweight, and are unhappy about it, it IS possible to change. It won't be easy, and anyone or anything that tells you differently is wrong.
The most important factor for weight loss is diet (as in what you eat, not Jenny Craig). Don't expect to start shedding pounds if you start walking or jogging without changing your diet. Some things you could eliminate from your diet and your body would thank you: Soda, candy, chips, white bread, white pasta (anything white), butter, anything deep-fried, pastries, anything with modified oils. Things that your body would like you to eat: Carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, garlic, beans, peas, almonds, olive oil, avocados, chicken, lean beef, fish to name a few. Fruits contain a lot of sugar, so if you're trying to lose weight you shouldn't eat them a lot, maybe an apple and a banana or some blueberries per day. I'm not saying you need to eliminate potatoes, rice, bread etc. completely, but cut down significantly. Eat half the potatoes you normally would, and double the vegetables. Once your body starts working properly again, you'll feel great and the weight will start coming off.
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/obesity/lectures.html
The difference between your message and mine is that you encourage lifestyle change and the ultimate "hope" you offer is weight loss. I encourage lifestyle change and the ultimate "hope" I offer is improved health, with or without weight loss.
Peace,
Shannon
FierceFatties.com
I'm encouraging improved health through weight loss. It's unfortunate, but most people aren't going to care very much if you say "do this and your liver will work better", "do that and you'll increase your lung capacity". People want to be able to see and feel changes in their body which indicate that they're making progress. Yes, I'm encouraging weight loss, but I encourage it to be done in a healthy way that, at the same time, will improve overall health. If I had a client who I knew, for whatever strange reason, could not lose weight no matter what, of course I would still encourage them to continue eating properly and exercise for all the benefits it provides other than weight loss.
I really wish you would push "effort" as much as push "excuses"...
I've seen her son's story play out over and over and over again...as soon as they drop the excuses.
http://winningtheobesitybattle.wordpress.com
Obesity is an epeidemic , but to approach it as just one single entity separate from the conditions it causes is to approach it with blinders.If lifestyles are affected by campaigns that promote high trans fats, high fructose corn syrup , foods that are genetically modified or beverages loaded with aspartame, then surely a national campaign can be structured by both private and public interest to make communities healthier by providing healthier food selections in stores, better fitness in schools, de-mystiying supplements and rewarding healthy behaviors with healthy rewards. The NIH,CDC, AHA, ACS,ACSM have all provided the statistics to prove the great threat here, but corporate influence on lifestyles are greater.
Most--if not all--obese people use food as a way of coping with difficult feelings. Even those who do not have bonafide eating disorders (and many do, even if they're never diagnosed), are chronic "emotional eaters." Without psychological help, they will likely never overcome their eating problems and keep their weight within normal limits.
While it is certainly important that we look at diet and exercise as fundamental to overcoming the obesity epidemic, the psychological component is every bit as important. Research shows that even gastric bypass surgery can't overcome an untreated case of chronic disordered eating.
http://winningtheobesitybattle.wordpress.com
http://winningtheobesitybattle.wordpress.com
If the food these corporations manufactures isn't full of hidden poisons like toxic pesticides, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, etc, then the food is developed to be addictive. This was proven in the 'Supersize Me' documentary and it continues to be proven every time some person loses it when they can't get an order of chicken nuggets...In this day and age, I don't think the obesity epidemic is just a matter of laziness, because there have been lazy people all through out history and they weren't all fat. And of course everyone should watch their food intake, but if you're hooked on this crap, how can you be expected to control yourself or feel full when the food is designed to make you want more.
Grow your own food and stop supporting these food corporations that are happily ($$$) killing us all!
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/obesity/lectures.html
They are fascinating and they dispel many of the myths and flaws found both in this article and many of the comments.
Peace,
Shannon
FierceFatties.com
The automotive and oil industries want us to stay in our cars - so we don't move and exercise enough.
The health and pharmaceutical industries want us to be ill - so they don't advertise healthy lifestyles.
Finally, Social Security and Medicaid are happy if we die younger - so they don't enforce any consumer protections on the above mentioned industries.
It's a game for dummies.
http://daynepost.blogspot.com/
There is no genetic component. There is no hard wired addiction complicated by the fact that one cannot go cold-turkey off food. There are not underlying medical problems. There is no schizophrenic societal approach to eating that pushes cheap food while requiring an image of thin fitness. There are no painful emotional issues warping how people relate to food.
How nice that you have managed to simplify this for everyone. Too bad more people don't take your advice.
And, yes genetics is a very strong component. When clients come to me I always ask them to bring a photograph from when they were 8-9 years old. If they were obese then, then they probably are dealing with genetics more than mental behavioral patterns.
http://daynepost.blogspot.com/
http://winningtheobesitybattle.wordpress.com
http://daynepost.blogspot.com/
What was shocking is that nearly everyone working to conquer obesity for others had no interest in what I had to say. it would not be profitable for them! If everyone new the simple solution, they would be out of a job. Obesity costs are profits for the people and companies that market a solution. This is simply a brilliant marketing scheme that will become clear only as the epidemic increases and common people seek the truth. Our bodies were never designed to need additional information to be thin.Therefore the information that people learn overrides natures program. We are being told what, when, and how much to eat by the government doctors and talk show hosts. Nature gave us all this for free! This is thintuition, which gets people back to reality or nature without a food plan that will ultimately result in failure.
Challenge to Carole,
If I send you a copy of my book would you read it and if the information seemed valuable would you write about it? Remember the media makes it's money selling advertising to the diet industry. Don't be naive. Seek the truth and share it! And Carole, I love being made wrong so please let me know where to send my book.
http://winningtheobesitybattle.wordpress.com
"We're fat and it's killing us. Yet every cloud has a silver lining. Experts suggest that the rising rate of obesity will translate into shorter life spans, thus keep the Social Security system solvent. Ha!"
Oh, it's that last little "Ha!"
Nice, Ms. Imma Apostle 4 Fitness. Nothing like caring guidance from someone who values each human being. Your attitude, whether explicit, as in the original post, or in the edited version above, is offensive.
Not only is the American Standard Diet the worst in the world, but the food itself is of the poorest quality:
- Corn Syrup is everywhere, for nothing.
- Meat has growth hormones and antibiotics, etc.
- Dairy products are derived from animals treated with hormones and antibiotics.
- Cows are fed abnormally with corn or animal remains.
- Sea products contain high levels of mercury.
- Soft drinks are virtually water with corn syrup.
- Fruits, vegetables and legumes, unless they come from an organic farm, are genetically modified to grow faster and to look good, this being less consequential to Americans, since they don't typically eat those.
It's astonishing that the richest country in the world has the poorest food. The typical diet is a variations of the same combo - white processed bread with hormone and antibiotic packed meat -, with greasy fries and a water+corn syrup soft drink and a corn syrup dessert with butter and flour. All processed. Nowhere to be seen are legumes, vegetables, whole grains or fruits.
Unless there is a revolution and the people demand the agribusiness stop feeding them cr@p and killing them, nothing's going to change. This isn't a one time weight loss individual problem, but a mass threat
On recent trip to China I was invited to a feast with some friends at an outstanding restaurant. The food just kept coming. So did the conversation, the enjoyment of the food and social revelry. The Chinese, for the most, are thin, because, they respect the food they eat, take time to prepare it and make dining a social experience, every day. They also walk a lot more and ride bicycles rather than drive two blocks.
http://daynepost.blogspot.com/
http://daynepost.blogspot.com/
What's saved the Chinese until now is that their agri-economy is not as industrialized as ours and is supposedly not so much "for profit". This is changing though. And already we see an evolution in the Chinese physiology - traditionally lean, they are becoming more and more fat and tall, because of the shift in diet. Who's to say that they aren't using the same methods as we do - hormones, antibiotics, etc. The Standard Chinese Diet, which is very healthy, is disappearing little by little, especially in the urban areas. Special interests are more and more coming into play. It's really a pity.
http://winningtheobesitybattle.wordpress.com
Light on the politics of obesity & heavy (no pun intended) on the common sense "grass roots" type of approaches that actually work.
My philosophy is to bloom where I'm planted. On my own, I can't change national policies on food production and regulation, but I surely can have an impact on the health and fitness of my neighbors, family and friends. Given the limitations of my resources (both time and money), my focus is on effecting practical changes at the community level, whether that community is a physical one or an online community. I hope that others pick up the ball when it comes to shifting the politics and policies of obesity.