Epidemic – Obesity

How did this disease grow to such epidemic proportions. There are many reasons people give, however, there are two which count “bad eating habits” and “lack of physical activity”.

Our “techno” society has made us all very lazy. In fact, I just saw a study the other day about the bad effect suburbia is having on people. No one walks anymore, everyone drives everywhere.

We have lazy boy chairs that have refrigerators built into them. I am going to use a often used phrase by Jay Leno, “How lazy are we getting when we can’t even get up to get the snacks we want”!

Anyone over the age of 50 remembers their mother making breakfast for them, getting a balanced lunch in the cafeteria at school; or your mother gave you a balanced lunch to take to school. When you came home from school, you got a snack of fruit or were told, No, you can’t have something to eat, it is too close to dinner. Dinners consisted of meat, vegetable, potato and glasses of milk (not soda, juice; these were treats, not a part of the diet). You ate everything on your plate. Or if you didn’t you didn’t get dessert. You had to at least taste, or try something before you decided you didn’t like it. Dessert was eaten after dinner (cake, ice cream, pudding, Jell-O). However, the portion sizes of all meals were moderate, not JUMBO.

Children went out to play when they got home. They didn’t go watch TV, play video games or get on a computer! They rode their bikes, played baseball, t-ball, softball, kickball, hide n’ seek, and a plethora of other games and activities. Yes, we had some children who were “husky”, however, not “obese”.

We have all these diets today, “no carb”; “low carb”, “low fat”, “South Beach”, I could go on and on. You get the idea. Think about people back in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Yes some had weight problems, but they had them because plain and simple “they overate”. They knew it and so did their friends and family. No excuses. However, the majority of us ate balanced meals and walked, and were active enough to burn off the food we consumed.

Today’s obesity problem is due to “lazy people”. We no longer take the stairs, we take the elevator. We no longer have to get up and turn the channel, we have the remote.

The majority of us sit all day long. We are either sitting in our car, bus, train, plane, or desk at work. When we do have the opportunity to walk, we ride!

In regards to our diets, I constantly hear I don’t have time for breakfast or making up meals.

Yes, you do, get up a half hour early and eat breakfast. Rather than sitting in front of the television set vegetating, try cutting up vegetables and eat them instead of chips, cookies or whatever else you grab for. Get a crock pot and make up stews. They are nutritious and filling, and eaten in moderation not high in caloric intake.

Just making up the meals is not enough, next you have to eat moderate portions. One of the best ways to see how much you are eating is to keep a food journal. If everyone logged everything they ate every day, they would be able to see where all the weight is coming from. Next, you need to start cutting out the extraneous stuff and go from there. Is it easy, no it isn’t. But
nothing in life is.

This is one of the biggest reasons why we have an obesity problem today. We all want the easy way out, the fast way, the “I don’t want to be responsible” way. The decisions adults are making are effecting our children. Childhood obesity has increased exponentially over the last 20 years. If nothing else, we need to change our eating and physical patterns and change them quickly. Obesity is a killer people. It causes diabetes, breathing problems, high blood pressure, heart attacks.

Is this the legacy we want to give to our children. Remember, we are role models for our children and what they are seeing is it is OK to eat, and eat and just sit around. I have actually seen commercials that portray an overweight child, lying on a bed, stuffing his face with chips, and clicking the remote, while an adult is asking him to get the phone and he is ignoring her. I was appalled and you should all be too!

Let’s make today the start of a healthy plan for all of us, and most importantly for our children.

To see how check out our guide, Keep Kids Fit Quick Start Guide: How To Get Your Family To Eat Healthy And Stay Fit at http://www.keepkidsfit.com If you are a parent who wants a healthier and fit family, this guide can help!

Copyright 2006, DeFiore Enterprises

Keep Kids Fit! Solutions for parents who want healthy children in body and mind! Our motto, “Eat Healthy, Live Healthy, Help Keep Kids Fit” Keep Kids Fit asks the question: Do You Want To Help Foster A Healthy Lifestyle For Your Child! If you answered yes, visit our website today at: http://www.keepkidsfit.com and check out our Keep Kids Fit Quick Start Guide: How To Get Your Family To Eat Healthy And Stay Fit.

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