Obesity Epidemic

I think it can be assumed that obesity creates health problems like acid reflux disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arterial plaque, blood clots, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, hormone imbalance, joint problems, osteoporosis, tooth decay, halitosis, skin infections, pulled ligaments and muscles, fallen arches, and limited ease of movement. 25-40% of Americans are obese by the FDA’s testing; and up to 64% are overweight. What overweight and obese mean are sometimes seen as highly speculative. Obesity and overweight are supposed to be determined by a person’s BMI score but the word obese is now being used for people, who 20 years ago, were considered overweight. Nowhere can I find where the FDA has changed its BMI standards so why the discrepancy? Is this just a hysterical escalation exercise? A BMI of 30 or higher (for your height, gender, and age) is considered obese. Doctors are encouraged not to trouble patients with overweight, just with obesity. By then, isn’t it too late? Shouldn’t they have tried to prevent it? Plus, there are many different types of bodies, some more muscular than others, so why does the BMI not take that into account and give an assurance of leeway in its system?

So, many people in America are obese. It seems to be generally accepted that we have an epidemic, systemic of our food processes, sedentary lifestyle, and over-consumption. Models have also become thinner as we have become fatter. Is this because Americans feel bad about themselves and give up trying to be an ideal by overeating or because societies always glorify what it is not (like the bourgeoisie of France loving corpulent bodies while the peasants starve)? Or is it because excessively thin models are the only socially acceptable way to keep women “in their place?” Whatever the reason, the ideal woman has become what most are not. Eternal youth is chased by the majority of the population-women over 40. Youth was when women were thin due to a more active lifestyle and metabolism calling to mind memories of a happier time, perhaps?

Whatever the reason for the thinner models, the majority of Americans are overweight. Men and women alike are equally affected. When it comes time to treat the symptoms of obesity, pills are used as it is very hard for people to change their lifestyle and eat and move differently. There is no way known to successfully enable people to change their habits, but say you could cause will power to surge? What diet would you use to lose the weight?

These are just some of the diets recommended as most healthy to the American public: only protein, high protein, everything in moderation, vegetarian, vegan, organic, juiced, no red meat, all red meat, no dairy, no sugar, eat all you want of certain foods only, eat certain foods and exercise x amount each day, drink only water, eat twice as many vegetables as other groups, cut out starches and carbohydrates, calorie counting, grapefruit fasting, fasting lite, fasting extreme, eat less of whatever you want, vitamin regimens, and basing your foods on the region your ancestors came from. Obviously, how can a patient ever know which one to choose? Even if your doctor tells you to do one you might think maybe another one would be easier or might be healthier. So you go back and forth, or stick with one only to realize it makes you sick. The FDA uses the food pyramid, which in itself can be confusing or vague. What in the world can obese people do? They love food and are addicted to it, they are not used to exercise, they are told they must change everything NOW, and then they look to find the right diet and are faced with a barrage of conflicting “facts” and overly generalized or overly specific information. THEN you get the videos of the horribly mistreated animals and “pink slime.”

Obese people are sick, mentally exhausted, and confused. Why then do people wonder that they don’t lose weight? Fat people think about how to lose weight all the time so when THEY can’t wade through the diet information you know there’s a problem. The doctors who wrote the diets don’t have a life or death situation to fight-obese people do. They are in a losing battle unless they can pick one diet, hope it is the most healthy one, and use all of the will power they have to stop eating too much of the “wrong” things. One wonders, isn’t there some therapy to get them not to WANT to eat too much? The answer-none of it works. Our bodies need food and you cannot help a food addict because they can never forgo their drug and live to celebrate sobriety.

People overeat for many different reasons but all of them become addicted in some capacity to one or more parts of the overeating process. Obese people feel like they are defeated before they start, especially because they try to diet all the time and fail daily at the goals they set for themselves.

Go ahead and judge us. Tell us it’s a question of will power and knowledge. Tell us we are disgusting and killing ourselves. Tell us we are lazy and make too many excuses. I wish I could put you in my shoes for a day and see what you say then.

Of course, all of us fatties could be completely able to lose weight and all of this talking about it and giving excuses IS avoidance. But that is the problem, isn' it...I don't seem to KNOW anything.