Obesity In America: Are We Losing the Battle of the Bulge?
The numbers are in and they indicate that America is growing, but not in a good way. Over half of the 50 states have seen an increase in their obesity rates during 2009, according to the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Things get even more shocking and serious from there, with Mississippi featuring the nation’s highest obesity rate for the sixth straight year (much to my chagrin, of course).
Along racial lines, the urban community has a very serious prognosis. Whites accounted for a lower percentage of the obese population in at least 40 states than did Blacks and Latinos. For instance, 9% of whites in D.C. were obese, along with 20.6% of Latinos and 34.4% of Blacks. Not surprisingly, adults with an income of less than $15,000 a year were much more likely to be obese in comparison to those who make over $50,000 a year—a fact that may have to do with the relatively higher costs of many healthy alternatives and the lower costs of fast food and other more harmful choices.
These dramatic warning signs have quite a few experts calling for better and safer infrastructure in our towns and cities, with more walkways and bicycle lanes in areas where traffic is diverted to make for better air quality. This would hopefully increase the number of citizens who walk or ride bikes to work. Is this actually a feasible solution for such a large problem?
Other possible solutions include more nutritional information on food product labels and community gardens which provide fresh fruits and vegetables.
However, absolutely nothing can beat the will of each individual to make healthier lifestyle choices, such as increasing activity levels and/or changing eating habits.
These issues are affectAmerica’s children, as well, and was the reason First Lady Michelle Obama launched the nationwide Let’s Move campaign. The initiative seeks to get children to be more active and also proposes changes to the quality of school lunches in order to promote healthier lifestyles.
With the right information and willpower, hopefully we can reverse this trend and take better control of our lives once and for all.
For the full obesity report, click here.
For more information on the Let’s Move initiative, visit letsmove.gov
Hey Chris, hate to sound like a broken record, but another great article! I felt like I was reading an AP special report.
Hey thanks man! The broken record sounds good to me! I was gonna include a bit about how I have pledged to lose 30 pounds and have already lost about 8 but I thought it might have been too much. Of course, being from MS, I knew I had to do something quick. By the way, I checked out your blog and it’s nice!
Great article chris. They can do all the bike ways and whatever but it’s no good if people don’t use them. People will just make more excuses. It’s a mix of people & lifestyle themselves. I can go on forever on this lol. SO I’ll just stop here lol.
Congrats on the losing 8lbs chris!
I agree good article.
“make over $50,000 a year—a fact that may have to do with the relatively higher costs of many healthy alternatives and the lower costs of fast food and other more harmful choices.”
I have always disagreed with this statement when directed at food and see this problem even with people in the higher income bracket. Fast food is not cheaper than healthier alternatives such as local Mexican food places, subway (deli’s a like) or going to your store and buying bread and tuna fish with some lettuce or simple fruits and vegetables to make a salad. There are plenty of cheap healthy alternatives to eating fast food many actually would save individuals money if they learned to eat correctly. Fast food, Junk food and how they process our food is a huge problem in the US contributing to obesity. Some good documentaries to watch are king corn, food inc, super size me. America needs to learn to eat better and exercise.
When looking at income brackets the ability to exercise is a factor. Lower income people can’t afford proper exercise equipment, live in areas not safe to go for walks or runs, don’t have gym access, have school programs cutting physical ed and sports programs. These are issues that need to be solved. Also we now have jobs were people sit by a computer all day not moving, get in their car and drive to work then home instead of biking or walking. When they get home they sit on the couch watch TV and eat, minimal movement throughout their lives. As humans we are meant to move not be idle.
@ Rick Lexington: We agree about that. It’s more of a cultural thing. If government policies could really fix it, we’d be on our way already. Oh, and thanks. It’s starting to get easy…
@ jbeck: Great points and really valid arguments! Thanks for commenting!
its getting bad in UK too now – we r usually 30 years behind USA. Most people look overweight and more and more look obese.
aint good.
peeps wanna go on fad diets rather than eat healthy + excercise.
maybe peeps have issues causing eatin too much they should work on.
no easy answer i guess.
Ya’ll just need to stop smoking pot hahahahahaha
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just get her to work out with you.my friend Always tell me that i am to small for him. and it hurts me so bad. he wants me to gain. but i have always been a small person.i have been eating. but i can’t gain. .it make me feel that he dose not love me anymore.and that he want someone other than me.well i am small but i have nice curves.i can also name a lots of things that don’t make him hot. but i don’t care because i love him. anyway good luck.
Although we can’t see these atoms, they really do exist.Where do you want to meet? No pain，no gain.There is a mark of ink on his shirt.I don’t think you are right.She’s been quite different since coming back from America.She’s been quite different since coming back from America.He has completed the task.Plenty of sleep is healthful.I’m supposed to go on a diet get a raise
[...] is a means of fighting unhealthy behaviors which are proven to cause health issues I mentioned in a previous post, such as diabetes and obesity, among [...]