ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

Obesity: "A Widening Problem"

Obesity is receiving increasing attention as a crisis.  It was even the cover story, "Why are Americans so fat?," for the August 2004 issue of National Geographic magazine.  Here are some excerpts from this article:

*  For all the Americans who've blamed bulging bellies on a slow metabolism, the jig is up.   A report earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finally confirms what many of us didn't want to admit:  we're fat because we eat a lot -- a whole lot more than we used to -- and most of the increase comes from carbohydrates.  Adult women are now eating 335 more calories per day than they did in 1971, while adult men have upped their daily intake by 168 calories....We each ate 1,775 pounds of food in 2000, up from 1,497 pounds in 1970.

*  In a historical first, there are now as many overnourished people as undernourished around the world.  Here's the recipe for obesity on such a global scale:  Take technology -- cars, washing machines, elevators -- that reduces physical exertion.  Increase calorie consumption, courtesy of increasing prosperity.  Add television and video games.  Stir in the intensive marketing of candy and fast food, and you have the makings of an epidemic.  In countries where the food supply has been unstable, people are getting fat despite far less abundance than in the United States.  The implication?  Newly industrialized nations in Asia, Africa, the Carribean, and Latin America may develop even higher rates of obesity-related health problems than in the US.

*  Obesity has reached red alert levels among children and adolescents, almost tripling since 1980 -- and small wonder.  Suburban sprawl and lack of pedestrian friendly streets have kids being driven instead of walking to school.  And most schools have cut back on physical educaton.

For more information on chlidhood obesity, watch for Susan Linn's article, "Food Marketing to Children Undermines Their Health," in the upcoming September, 2004 issue of Exchange.

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