Health and Obesity

By Broadland | No Comments

If you are obese you are not healthy. There are no ifs and buts about it. Obesity is the single most important cause of ill health in the affluent world today. It has now taken a new turn and affects children. As many as two out of every three adults in the affluent world are overweight or obese.

The number of people who are overweight has increased dramatically over the last quarter of a century. Achieving and maintaining a normal weight with a BMI of 25 or less is important to reduce the risk of these diseases and improve your overall health. Once you are over the BMI (Basal Metabolic Index) of 25 you should become alert. Early alertness of overweight state and dietary control are the most effective tools available.

In the affluent societies, the proportion of obese children has nearly tripled over the last quarter of a century. The increases are seen across all age groups and equally for both boys as well as girls. An important causative factor is lack of activity, particularly in the new group of young obese. They are just not active enough for a reasonable growth and development pattern.
People take all kinds of drugs, change in eating habits, exercise, alternative medicine, etc. Every branch of medicine and pseudo medicine has started catering to obesity control and obese people in general.

When you are obese, you are more prone to get cardiac conditions, hypertension, arthritis, and other chronic illnesses. Even the fact that you cannot be as mobile as somebody half your weight is an indication that there is something wrong here.

Gone are the days of eating large quantities of food. Gone also are the days of heavy community feasts. Forcing children to eat should be (and is not) history. Mothers in affluent societies still feel compelled to force children to eat more and more. Then there is junk food mania, which has to be seen to be believed. The insane part of it is that is is all done in the name of “growing up” and “good health”. Even when she sees that the child is overweight, the mother often fails to stop her force feeding habits or her junk food outlet visits.

Many factors have contributed to the increasing amount of obesity. Some obvious causes are changes in the social pattern, and work and leisure habits. These in turn affect the eating and activity patterns, leading to a rise in obesity or just an overweight state. There is a shift towards less physically demanding work, and the increased use of automated transportation and passive leisure activities, such as viewing television or playing video games is contributory to the overall trend toward obesity. In cities in the affluent societies, it is the norm to transport the children to school by car or by bus and school bus paid for by the taxes. So very rarely do the children walk to school in these societies.

Changes in the type of food available, consuming larger portion sizes and the ubiquitous availability of a wide range of inexpensive foods, have all made it difficult to maintain a normal weight and BMI of less than 25.

Posted in Children, Diet & Nutrition, Health

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