Tackling Obesity

At the risk of becoming a bore, I wish to define the problem of obesity with a few more facts to highlight the issue a bit more.  Research indicates that over 70% of adults are struggling to maintain or lose weight.  Over 63% are overweight.  Over 20% of children are obese, up from about 7% in 1975 and over 35% of college students are overweight.

 

Since 1985, the average dress size has gone up from a size 8 to a size 12-14.

Many “experts” want to blame genetics for the problem of obesity, but only rarely are they correct.  Even if they were right 100% of the time, we will not be altering our genetic makeup any time soon and therefore other avenues must be attended to, to solve the problem.

If you look at photos taken back during the 1860’s when photography was an emerging art, you will find that nearly everyone was normal weight.  Excess weight became an issue related to a change in exercise (or lack there of) status because as you know, our genetics could not have changed substantially over the past 160 years.

Solving the problem of obesity is a matter of survival.  At our present rate of increasing weight problems, statistically everyone will be obese in less than twenty-five years.

“Change for the sake of change is not necessarily good.  But, change to adapt to the situation is survival.”

Adapt-or-lose! Ohio State Bar Association Report, Vol.XL no.21 (May 22,1967).

My suspicion however is that the Ohio Bar was not speaking of obesity related issues with this article though the statement seems to apply.

In our culture, the average 35 year-old- male gains between one-half pound and one and three-fourths pounds of fat per year until the sixth decade of life, despite a progressive decrease in the amount of food eaten.  Even worse, women gain about thirty pounds between ages twenty-five to thirty.  This so called normal pattern of weight gain is anything but normal.

Kathleen Ashton, PhD, Department of Psychology at the Cleveland Clinic, believes that certain situations and emotions trigger eating often to excessive amounts as many of you are already aware.  On May 5, 2004, at a course entitled, Obesity: Aggressive Management and Outcomes Measurement, Dr. Ashton presented a paper entitled, The Psychology of Eating.  She noted several categories of situational or emotional triggers.

Social:  Eating when around others, sometimes to fit in or maybe to atone for feelings of inadequacy.  Sometimes over-eating when encouraged by others to do so.

Emotional:  Eating in response to boredom, stress, fatigue, tension, depression, anger, anxiety, or loneliness as a way to “fill a void.”

Situational:  Eating because the opportunity is there as when walking past a bakery or a food vendor and selecting something to eat when not really hungry.

Thoughts:  Eating as a result of negative self-worth or making excuses for eating.

Many individuals, are depressed over their love life, job loss, loneliness, work-load, financial worries, family squabbles, parenting issues and then resort to cookies, chocolates, chips, ice cream (my weakness), and other similar “foods” (maybe they are more like poisons) to console themselves.  Others resort to alcohol, drugs, shopping sprees, or similar indulgences which are self-destructive.

The outcome is essentially the same regardless of which poor choice we make to slowly destroy our bodies.

Remember, about 27% of individuals are normal weight and most of them are facing the same daily issues that the rest live with.  What makes them different?  As time goes on, you will see why they are trim (normal) and why you may not be.

How important is fitness?  How important is diet?  How important are our emotions?   We shall see.

The most celebrated Greek of all, Plato, said:  ”Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being while movement and methodical physical exercise save and preserve it.”

 Thomas Edison put it this way, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but instead will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”

That is where I am at today.  As we all know the old yet still useful, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

 Dr. Phillip

His blogs are his own opinions and do not reflect those of his current and past employers.