Ignorance Is Obese
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In 2011, The CIA’s Fact Book rated U.S. life expectancy at 50th place (49th in 2010). Our life expectancy is below Australia, Canada, Jordan, United Kingdom, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Puerto Rico. While we have much shorter lifespan, we surprisingly outspend each of these countries on medical care by thousands of dollars. The key reasons are:
- Nearly 60% of the US population is overweight.
- The number of children and teens who are overweight has tripled over the past three decades.
- Almost 20% of 4-year-olds are obese.
The main culprit in this ever escalating health problem is a whopping 47% leap in the daily caloric consumption by Americans during the past three decades — mostly high calorie, chemical laden, highly processed, low nutrition foods. We are actually eating ourselves to death.
Acceptance of obesity is so prevalent that overweight clergy, construction workers, fire fighters, medical professionals, prison guards, and police officers are becoming a common sight. Take a look at any 30 year old TV show with a studio audience and you would have to look hard to see an obese person.
Instead of fighting obesity with good nutrition and exercise, we are turning to costly medical procedures to do the job. The American consumers are getting fatter and sicker each day, but instead of finding a solution, big business is cashing in. An example is the gastric banding process which places an adjustable band around the stomach to limit its size. This procedure is becoming popular among obese teens. Another terrifying development is the need for jumbo coffins which have to be hoisted by cranes and transported on flatbed trucks.
Our national obesity rate is projected to reach 42% by 2030. Unless specific steps are taken to change the eating habits of the affected population, America’s health problems and resulting chronic disease management costs are sure to skyrocket.
Collective Nutrition Ignorance
- 45% of our daily calories come from fat and 21% from added sugar.
- Today, a person consumes about 220 pounds of meat per year; during the 1950’s, meat consumption was 144 pounds per year.
- The recommended daily limit for added sugar by the American Heart Association (AHA) is 5 teaspoons for adult women, 9 teaspoons for adult men. The average American consumes about 130 pounds of added sugar each year - about 23 teaspoons daily. Most will adamantly deny they consume this much sugar.
- Children in the U.S. have their sugar consumption skyrocket to an average of 32 teaspoons (about ¾ cup) per day. The maximum recommendation by AHA is 3 teaspoons per day. Imagine that; their growing bodies are forced to deal with ten times the high limit of sugar consumption. Their vital organs are under full assault.
- Americans eat two to three times the daily recommended limit of salt. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost 50% of adults suffer from high blood pressure.
- 90% of Americans do not meet their daily recommended fruit, vegetable, and whole grain consumption. They do eat far too many processed foods.
- Average Trans fat intake is 5.8 grams a day (maximum recommended is 2 grams) – however, it should be zero.
- A study by Harvard researchers show that people who eat one serving of processed meat every day have a 51% increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Most school lunch program fall woefully short of the nutrition needs of our children.
- 1 in 3 Americans born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes if current trends
continue.
When it comes to the quality and quantity of foods consumed by children whether it is at home, in schools, or restaurants, loving them to death has taken on a very literal meaning. Our supermarkets, school cafeterias, fast food restaurants, and TV commercials incessantly push unhealthy highly processed foods that are slowly poisoning millions of children and setting them up for a life of declining health. Are the profits earned by flooding the market with junk food so important that the very future of the country is of little concern? Why don’t the parents, who profess great love for their children, care about their well-being? Health experts are now asking whether America’s children will be the first in the world’s history to live shorter lives than their parents. Important questions for all to consider:
- Can an unhealthy America remain wealthy, productive, and a world power?
- Will the inscription on the Statue of Liberty eventually read: ‘Give me your fit, your healthy, your robust masses’?
How concerned are you about the current dismal state of nutrition in supermarkets, homes, schools, restaurants, cooking shows, and food commercials. Have you taken any steps to combat the malnutrition all around us? Have you voted with your dollars by making healthier choices when given the option? What advice would you give to our readers, especially families with young children? What do you think?
© 2012 Gopal K. Kapur
I agree, US obesity is a real threat to our nation. I think a good first step would be to further educate parents. Many obesity related problems stem from bad childhood habits. In extreme childhood obesity cases, I think our court systems should be given the power to step in and file child abuse/neglect charges. There are children out there that are almost as wide as they are tall! Parents are accountable for the health of their children and that should include providing them with a proper diet.
In the last four decades, there has been a proliferation of high-calorie, highly processed, pre-cooked, packaged, low-nutrition foods. Calorie consumption from low quality fats, refined carbohydrates, and excessive sugar has played havoc with nation’s health – even pre-teens are suffering from Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Many of the highly celebrated TV chefs regale in cooking huge portions of fatty, sugary, and salty concoctions. Nutritious home cooking is a vanishing skill; fast food is the order of the day. Big business doesn’t care, government doesn’t care, schools don’t care, and most of the parents don’t care (majority of the nation’s population is overweight). We need to get to the children before it is too late for them.
As a parent I have the power to change my childrens diet, what I struggle with is what to feed them. I can find lists upon list of what not to feed them and yes it is probably as simple as veggies but I am unschooled in the ways of being creative in the kitchen. I think many find they give up and just buy something on the shelf. It’s depressing to see the piles of food that you cannot eat or give your children especially when you see it all around you. This goes for not just high sugar foods but awful preservites and dyes too. We are in the first baby steps of getting there in our society and I know in my heart by not bringing in the bad stuff I am saving my families’ lives. I don’t think it’s my or the governments job to save those who don’t want to save themself it’s my job to show my children how to make better choices in food for their own life. It’s my job to show my kids the consequences of not eating correctly that drinking soda like water will lead to weight gain and blood diseases. It’s my job to offer opinions and what knoweldge I have to those open to it and express it in forums such as this site. I feel the truth is very hard to look at and the truths found here help my choices I hope they help others as well. My wish at saving our nation is for companies who bring food to us cared more about people than the $ signs. It’s my job to support those who show me they care too. Thanks for all your info.
I completely agree with you regarding the importance of personal responsibility. However, an important point to ponder: If the current state of nation’s food consumption continues, the latest projections are that 55% of the population is going to be obese by 2030. Would Medicare, Medicaid, employer health plans, and individual health plans be able to provide the needed services to manage the resulting chronic diseases – type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and certain forms of cancer? Will there be sufficient numbers of medical professionals to take care of the massive number of patients suffering from the obesity related chronic diseases? Who is going to pay for the medications needed by the affected population? The resulting financial burden on the nation is going to be massive; the lost productivity due to sick days and lower on-the-job performance is going to be a financial sink hole. We certainly don’t want the government to legislate nutrition, obviously the food industry has no desire to market high nutrition food, and for the majority of the population nutrition is not a priority. How can the march to obesity be stopped?
We need to start addressing this misalignment in the economic incentives for being fat. Gopal, like you said, the health plans of today will buckle under the “weight” of an overly obese nation of tomorrow. A survey done by Phalanx Investment Partners LLC (http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmaris/2012/04/19/is-a-tax-on-obesity-in-americas-future/) found that 1 in 3 Americans believe that obese people should pay more taxes. As a nation, we cannot afford to be obese. Let’s focus that responsibility on each individual citizen. If you choose to eat yourself to death, it should cost you.