Tag: obesity-epidemic

All parents want what’s best for their kids. They want them to be the smartest in the class, or the fastest on the team.  They give them time, money, support, encouragement, and love, all to help them be the best they can be.  For many families, this is especially true when it comes to fitness and sports.

But before plowing into hours of practices and training sessions with spring sports right around the corner, it’s important for parents to ask themselves, “Are my kids working out too much, or not enough?”

According to research done at the University of Michigan, exercise is key to combating the obesity epidemic, especially in a nation where 15% of all children are estimated to be overweight.  However, it’s also possible to push kids so hard in organized activities and athletics that they run the risk of injury and mental/emotional fatigue.

So, how do we determine what’s really best for kids?

Existing research isn’t too much help here.  Many studies have been done on childhood fitness, and many sets of guidelines have been published.  According to Harold Kohl, an epidemiologist from the University of Texas, there are at least 27 sets of official guidelines from various organizations without a lot of data to back them up.

For example, we don’t know why 60 minutes is more sufficient than 30 or 45, how play time or unorganized activity fits into the picture, or how individual differences impact the results.  Fortunately, the experts do agree on a few things:

• Kids who exercise have stronger muscles, greater endurance, and bones that are denser and have greater mineral content.
• When obese children exercise regularly, their body fat, blood lipids, and blood pressure may fall.
• Kids should not exercise as “little adults;” for example, it may not be safe for kids to run on a treadmill for 30 minutes straight.
• Exercise impacts all children differently – some get more benefit than others, and some get none at all.
• Left on their own, most children know best what their bodies need.

So what does this mean for families?  Children spend a lot of time being told what to do by parents, teachers, peers, and the media.  Maybe it’s time to include our children in the decision-making process, and in turn, teach our kids to listen to their own bodies.

Whether they choose to participate in organized athletics or unorganized activity (“just play”), they stand to gain the benefits of building and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, without risking physical or emotional burnout.  Activity can contribute fun, creativity, new skills, teamwork, and personal fulfillment to a child’s life.

And if “the single best activity you do is the one you will do”, let’s allow our kids to choose how to become the best, healthiest, and happiest, they can be.

What sports and activities do your kids enjoy most?

Halloween is fast approaching, and frankly, the thought of all the candy my four-year-old and twin two-year-olds are going to haul into the house is making me break out in hives.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Halloween. But the holiday is so focused on trick-or-treat fare that I dread the candy battles my daughter and I will have over her stash. In previous years, we were able to give away or throw out a significant amount of her loot. This year, she’s four, and much more aware of what’s going on around her.

I’m fine with my kids having the occasional Halloween treat. But I’m also aware that it’s not healthy for their bodies or their teeth. Treats are generally saved for special occasions. We don’t often have dessert. And while most of my large Italian family believes I am denying my children their childhood because cookies and cake don’t follow every meal, I tend to believe I’m doing their little bodies a favor instead of a grave injustice.

Which brings me to this video, which is generating a lot of buzz on the interwebs this week.

This is an Australian PSA, created to address the childhood obesity epidemic.

Here’s what I think:

It’s dark and it’s chilling. This PSA is not easy to watch. But I think that’s exactly what its producers were aiming to accomplish.

It’s flawed. The hamburger is not necessarily the enemy. The boy is eating a  fast-food burger, complete with “sesame-seed bun,” but as fellow Midtown member Christina LeBeau said in her post on this topic on Spoonfed, her awesome and Jamie Oliver-recognized blog that focuses on educating kids about food, “there’s a world of difference between a fast-food burger and a homemade pastured burger.” I would have liked to see the boy eating a doughnut, candy bar, or other sugar-laden snack, since the addictive qualities of white sugar are on par with that of cocaine.

It achieved its goal because it made me think about the childhood obesity epidemic in this country, and exactly why it exists. The answers are myriad and complex and I don’t pretend to know them all. But I do know this:

One third of children and teens are now overweight or obese.

One third.

The food served in school cafeterias is loaded with calories, fat, and processed beyond recognition in many cases. Schools nourish students’ minds with knowledge, and yet serve them food so unhealthy it’s making them ill. Kids turn on the tv, flip open a magazine, and walk into grocery stores, and are targeted by ads trying to sell them food that is literally killing them.

And there’s also the widespread idea that junk food is somehow “owed” to kids. That to moderate treats is to zap all the fun out of childhood.

But this is a different world than the one in which we grew up. The health climate is much more perilous. Our food has been drastically changed for the worse by the addition of high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, food dyes, hormones, and toxic chemicals. Kids and adults are more sedentary than they were even 10 years ago. And numerous studies have proven that junk food is highly addictive.

So yes, this video is disturbing and extreme, but I believe there is a connection between the negative effects of unhealthy food and those from using drugs.

What do you think about the video?

Women have been stuffing themselves into corsets, girdles, and girdle-like garments since the beginning of time.

For the last ten years, many women have worshiped at the altar  of Spanx, that miracle-working undergarment that promises to “promote comfort and confidence in women” while simultaneously cutting off our supply of oxygen.

Image courtesy of spanx.com

 But, what price beauty, right?

And now it’s the guys’ turn.

Meet Spanx for men.

Before you laugh and come down firmly on the side of “No Man Will Ever Wear These,” you need to know that, Spanx for men are a huge hit. They are selling out of stores as soon as shipments arrive, and as you might suspect, online sales are even hotter.

Of course, unlike some of the garments in the Spanx for women line, the men don’t have the traditional tummy-sucking and thigh-squeezing shapers.

Instead, they have undershirts, as modeled by men who, interestingly, do not need to wear Spanx, given the fact that they are currently sporting six-packs.

Spanx claims the undershirts feature “powerful compression zones” and are “physique-improving” and “game-changing.” The men interviewed in this article seem to support the claims, saying that the super-tight undershirts gave them “pecs…definition” and “confidence,” in addition to back-pain relief.

It seems a bit unfair that men love their Spanx. Women are held to physical standards of beauty that men are fortunate to avoid. And while we love our Spanx too, they are a necessary, and often uncomfortable, evil: pregnancies change our bodies, our breasts succumb to forces of gravity beyond our control, and losing weight has always been more difficult for us than it is for men. If we want to even approach these unattainable beauty standards, we must look a certain way.

So guys: Can’t you pretend to hate them just a little, for our sakes?

Regardless of who’s wearing the Spanx, “shapewear” has become a hugely popular (and profitable) industry.  Much like the multi-billion dollar diet industry, which peddles quick-fix weight-loss miracle cures that do not touch the underlying causes of the American obesity epidemic, shapewear offers a similar short-term solution.

What do you think of Spanx for men? Guys, would you wear them? Would your boyfriend or partner wear Spanx?

And what do you think of shapewear in general? Harmless figure-enhancers or dangerous fads?

There is depressing news from the CDC this week. From 2007 to 2009, 2.4 million more people became obese. This means that 72.5 million Americans, or 26.7 percent of the population, now have this dangerous and costly medical condition.

In addition, nine states (concentrated in the South and Midwest) now have an obesity rate of 30% or more, as compared with just three states in 2005.

And then there are the results of the Nurses Health Study, which came out at the end of June. 18,000 women in their 30s and 40s answered questions about their medical, exercise, and living habits, and it was found that women gain an average of 20 pounds over 16 years, but that those who bike or walk briskly were able to better control their weight.

Doctors blame the usual suspects:

• Not enough exercise
• Poor food choices
• Lack of education about healthy living

Image courtesy of Super-Beader

I happen to think these startling obesity and weight-gain statistics can also find their causes in the recession.

Unhealthy food is cheaper than good food. McDonald’s “restaurants” are popping up in low-income neighborhoods across the country.

And with regard to the weight gain in women over a 16-year period spanning the study participants’ 30s and 40s, it’s no secret that this is the time when many women are getting married and more susceptible to the so-called “love chub.” Women in this age group are also busy raising young children.

Finding time to exercise and eat correctly while knee-deep in diapers and preschooler tantrums is no small feat.

But as someone who has spent years trying to convince a certain loved one that a healthy lifestyle change is needed, I can honestly say that when all things (education, socio-economic status, and physiological makeup) are equal, it basically comes down to one thing.

You have to want it.

I think a lot of Americans are simply okay with being overweight. They don’t exercise. They don’t belong to a gym. They choose to eat garbage food regularly. In many ways, they’ve just made a conscious choice not to make their health a priority.

But then their bodies begin to fail. They develop Type 2 diabetes or sleep apnia. They have strokes and heart attacks. Their doctors tell them that their behaviors are shaving years off their lifespan.

It’s only then that they begin to make the changes necessary to save themselves.

Don’t get me wrong. These people deserve credit too. It is hard work to lose weight. Hard when you have 10 pounds to lose. Even harder when you have 50 or more pounds that must come off. Choosing to take control of one’s life, even after health problems have surfaced, shows a willingness to stop the cycle that’s created the deterioration in the first place.

I know it’s not as simple as putting down the fork and picking up the free weights. I know mitigating factors make it supremely difficult for some people to get healthy.

Image courtesy of AnandaBlue

But I believe in many cases, it’s the drive that’s missing.

It’s the drive that motivates the athlete in marathon training to rise at 6am and run long for three hours. It’s the determination of the college student to take group exercise classes to look fabulous in her bridesmaid gown at her sister’s wedding. It’s the desire of the beer-and-chips-loving dad to drive himself to the gym after work so he can see his youngest child graduate from college.

And unfortunately, the way I see it, too few Americans have it.

I would love to know why.

What do you think about the latest obesity findings? Besides the usual culprits of poor diet, lack of exercise, and limited food education, why do you think Americans are so unhealthy?

My great aunt is 81 years old. She mows her own lawn. She paints her house every other year. She hangs curtains (and installs the hardware), cooks huge Italian meals on a weekly basis and drives them to the lucky members of her family on both sides of the city, and can fix just about anything. She runs after my 19-month-old twins and my three-year-old, even when each is headed in a separate direction. She’s the picture of health, save for the occasional cold. My aunt seems to have more energy on her worst day than I have on my best.

She’s also about 10-15 pounds overweight.

Her very slim husband is 84. While still very vital, he has long lacked energy and strength. He has heart problems and high cholesterol. Even in his younger years, he preferred to stay at home and relax rather than follow my aunt on her many adventures.

My aunt is by far the more healthy of the two.

Recent research suggests that some of those who are overweight (33% of all Americans) might actually be considered healthy and fit. This article cites studies that have found that those with an “overweight” BMI (not to be confused with a BMI in the “obese” range) are less likely to have a whole slew of diseases, including lung cancer, osteoporosis, and anemia, when compared with those who have a “normal” BMI. In addition, a study in the journal Obesity, found that those with an “overweight” BMI have a lower mortality risk than any other weight group.

Image by Royalty-Free/Corbis

These studies have their critics, of course. Some doctors believe that over the years, being overweight will lead to other serious diseases, even if those carrying around extra pounds might appear fit and healthy now. In addition, when you gain weight, you can’t control what parts of your body absorb the fat, so, these doctors believe, while thigh fat might be beneficial in helping an individual avoid osteoporosis, abdominal fat leads to an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.

Both sides agree that working out is vital to overall health, whether you’re overweight or not.

I do think it’s possible for those with an “overweight” BMI to be strong and fit. I have witnessed both men and women carrying some extra weight absolutely smoke me in the races in which I’ve run, and I’m currently running an 8:20 pace per mile. They may carry their weight around their mid-sections, but their legs are long and lean and fast.

In addition, I think there needs to be less focus on BMI and clothing size and more attention paid to activity levels, energy, and overall health and wellness. We live in a number- and physical-appearance-obsessed culture, and while everyone can’t slip into a size 2 pair of skinny jeans or look fabulous six weeks after giving birth, I do think it’s possible to be fit, healthy, and overweight, assuming exercise and eating well are priorities.  

Do you think it’s possible to be both overweight and healthy, or do you feel it’s dangerous to endorse this concept, because it might discourage those carrying extra pounds from trying to lose weight?