Obesity and America: How We Got So Fat (And So Sick)

[LaurenG]

Renowned preventive cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD, has devoted decades to helping Americans improve their health by trimming their waistlines and exercising regularly. Now, in an important new book, The South Beach Wake-Up Call, he warns that we're raising a generation that could be the first in modern history with shorter life spans than their parents'. Here, his urgent call to action.



America is fatter and sicker than ever. We compensate by taking diet pills and going on fad diets. But the fact is that our fast-food, sedentary lifestyle is trumping the advances in medical science that have been responsible for at least four decades of decreasing death rates from heart disease. The hard truth is that whatever shape health care reform ultimately takes--one payer, multiple payer, or a combination of coverages--it won't matter, because we as a nation won't be able to pay for it. If we don't make the positive lifestyle changes needed to halt and reverse the obesity epidemic now--today--our health care system will be bankrupted by the sheer numbers of sick Americans.



We call the men and women who lived through and fought in World War II the "greatest generation." I predict that our current population of adults between ages thirty and forty-five could have the dubious distinction of being remembered as the "sickest generation," or "Generation S." For the first time since I started practicing cardiology more than thirty years ago, heart attacks are on the rise for this age-group. Without immediate intervention, for the first time in modern history, we will start to see a reduction in life span.


In order to fully understand why we are now experiencing an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases, it's useful to take a look back to the genesis of the fast-food, sedentary culture that's responsible for our failing health. The better we understand the origins of our toxic lifestyle, the better the chance that we can turn things around.


http://www.prevention.com/health/weight-loss/diets/obesity-and-america-how-we-got-so-fat/article/5952a02007022310VgnVCM10000030281eac____

[no_hypocrisy]

1. More from the article:

America is fatter and sicker than ever. We compensate by taking diet pills and going on fad diets. But the fact is that our fast-food, sedentary lifestyle is trumping the advances in medical science that have been responsible for at least four decades of decreasing death rates from heart disease. The hard truth is that whatever shape health care reform ultimately takes--one payer, multiple payer, or a combination of coverages--it won't matter, because we as a nation won't be able to pay for it. If we don't make the positive lifestyle changes needed to halt and reverse the obesity epidemic now--today--our health care system will be bankrupted by the sheer numbers of sick Americans.

[get the red out]

2. It is frightening

Just going out and looking around, the numbers of obese people are staggering, it's the new norm. I don't think of myself as thin, but I am within a normal weight range and exercise daily and try to eat a healthy diet. Some people my age, mid-40's look ancient! It's like people's bodies just blow up like balloons. I am so grateful it hasn't happened to me, but wish there was some way to actually reach people about their health habits. No one wants to "give up" anything or make any efforts, no one seems to have time for it.

[closeupready]

5. Very true. Same age as you, and most people in their 30's already have bellies

and double chins. Normally, it seems like I am the most fit person whenever I go out to a bar or restaurant, and that's just unbelievable, as I have really only been back on a fitness kick since mid-March. I've basically cut out all potatoes, rice and empty carbs (like sugar). What a difference six months can make - my BMI is about 20 right now.

[Warpy]

7. I was always thin until I turned 50

Without changing my diet (whole foods) or exercise (RN on busy units), I blimped up 50 pounds practically overnight. It was horrifying and totally out of my control, still piling on even as I cut down to one meal a day.

There is something at work besides poor diet or activity choices. Until medical science admits that and begins to work on exactly what it is, nothing is going to work.

Fully 90% of obese people who achieve their normal weight put all the weight plus more back on within five years. That means people who lost it through slow starvation, fad diets, drugs, or gastric surgery. This is a dismal success rate for treating the "causes" of poor diet or a sedentary lifestyle.

Nobody wants to be fat, bigotry against fat people is the last socially acceptable bigotry, couched in "concern," of course. If there were a way to shed fat that is permanent, few would be fat.

While medicine blames fat people for "choosing" to be fat, this issue is not going to be solved.

[get the red out]

11. I agree with you on a lot of what you said

All causes need to be looked into, medical, food additives, poverty, access to decent food, and the fact that healthier foods are more expensive.

This problem is multi-faceted. There are also heavier people who are much healthier and take better care of themselves than thin people who have hideous health habits and look a decade older than their age.

[wilt the stilt]

3. Nothing could be truer

I was a complete gym rat until I was into my forties and my kids were young. I, like so many people just lost the incentive and time to work out. I had gained upward of twenty pounds over the last 10- 12 years and I am turning 60.
My kids and wife teased the hell out of me(man boobs) but of course I continued to eat junk. Three month's ago my daughter came back from mayo and she needed to exercise so she asked me to go ride bikes with her. Then my brother who rides everyday asked me if my bike was going to be used or was it going to be a museum piece.
That motivated me and in 3 months I have lost 18 pounds and I am close to m target weight of 175(BMI).

Exercise of course is important but it is the eating. At my age caloric intake is 2000 calories. It is amazing how little you can eat if you want to lose. I have been trying to restrict myself to 1500 calories and that only lose 1 pound a week.
I have not had a french fry,potato chip any desert that wasn't fresh food for 3 months. Once you get past the first month it is pretty easy to stay off those things.

[Big Blue Marble]

4. Good for you!

It takes consistency and commitment to do what you are doing. The rewards are more the worth the effort. I lost
60 pounds over one year ago. I am maintaining with great success following a similar plan regular exercise and whole
foods. It works!

[Jack2632]

6. "t's not my fault"

People too often blame circumstance for overeating, eating unhealthy foods and not exercising. In my heart, I know how easy that is to do, but when it comes down to it, I will always put my health and wellbeing on the list of most important things in my life. Mentally and physically I feel a difference when I'm putting these things first. It's not easy, but it's worth it.

Apart from that, I've seen a ton of articles lately that are "this is how to live a healthy lifestyle" ... but we all know these things! We learned them as kids! We just put other things (like relaxing on the couch or eating chips out of convenience) first. It just upsets me that we aren't taking responsibility (despite the fact that I know we're the problem with all our fast food and stuff).

[laconicsax]

8. The "obesity epidemic" is based on total crap.

Obesity is measured by BMI, which was was invented in the early 1800s as part of a study that wasn't health-related and as a result, it's a terrible measure of health. By BMI, people who are in great shape and muscular are just as likely to be classified as obese as those who are in terrible shape and flabby.

[JoeyT]

10. +1

BMI is a simplistic measure for simple people. Body fat percentage is far more accurate, and far more trouble to come up with.
It's not nearly as much fun because we can't panic about an obesity epidemic.

[Bosonic]

9. Try alternate day fasting for at least 16 days

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting

If you think you have the willpower to not eat for a day (followed by unrestricted eating the next), then I would encourage you to try it. If my experience is typical you will loose some weight, you will feel healthier and you'll probably also save a little cash on food bills. If you reach 16 days with positive results, then go for another 16 day block etc etc.

It's not for everyone, but it does have the advantages of being free, simple and possibly giving health benefits over and above those associated with just loosing weight.

[sense]

12. I have a suggestion

I've been reading a blog about re-setting your leptin receptors on marksdailyapple.com and it makes an enormous amount of sense, especially if you combine reading that with reading the information on the site of a neurosurgeon who contributes to the blog. Here are the links:

http://jackkruse.com/

the leptin re-set blog on mark's daily apple is here:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread32345.html


Apparently leptin resistance comes before insulin resistance, which comes before type 2 diabetes and we can re-set our leptin (extremely important hormone) receptors so they are more sensitive to leptin and doing so can result in an amazing cascade of health benefits which include fat loss/muscle gain. The blog is over 600 pages at this point (I'm only half way through), and, of course, you'll have to filter out some of the posts as there are many that are easily skipped.

I'm not a scientist, so sometimes it makes my brain hurt to try to decipher what the neuro is saying... :-), but I think it's really worthwhile. I've started on the program to see how it goes. It's just a different way of thinking and eating, not a program you have to sign up for or pay for. Tons of information.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

13. Millions have glandular/metabolic disorders that are untreated.

Diabetes, adrenal exhaustion, dead thyroid glands. Destroyed by stress or autoimmune diseases. And several others I don't know about.

www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

http://thyroid.about.com

[sense]

14. yes!

Just try to find a doctor that understands any of this. They just don't want to step outside of their comfy little boxes and they go on prescribing so many of the things that contribute to illness and that don't work to fix the real problem. I'm trying to locate a doctor, any doctor, that will even consider reading the info and it's not going well.

And for those thinking yea, yea, it's your thyroid, right..... you need to read the links Manifestor_of_Light posted and the ones I posted and you'll see that we've been completely led astray. Health care should be about our health, not about pharma and the ins. co making billions by making sure we're all ill and stay that way.

There are solutions to so many of the things that make us sick, but those solutions aren't being allowed into the mainstream.

[gkhouston]

16. It took me two years and more doctors than I can count to get a diagnosis.

I'd even been told on multiple occasions that the problem was "definitely not my thyroid". When I finally got diagnosed with Hashi's, the endo told me that based on my history and the extent of thyroid destruction, I'd probably had the disease for ten years. :grr:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. More websites with info that the doctors ignore.

http://www.adrenalsweb.org/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

http://faqhelp.webs.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NTHA-Chat/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/

http://www.thyroid-rt3.com/


www.stopthethyroidmadness.com is a good place to start.