Sunday, September 17, 2017

Growing Waist Size in America

America is growing, not just in terms of population but also in size.  The Editorial in our local paper reads:  Obesity rates remain a national concern.  As the editorial notes, too many Americans are getting bigger.  Trust for Americas’ Health released their 2017 Obesity report.  The report found that, “far too many Americans, both adult and children, are significantly overweight to the extent that it jeopardizes their overall health and well-being.”  

States vary a lot in the number of adults who are overweight or obese.  West Virginia leads the nation as 37.7% of the adults in West Virginia are obese with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. The state with the lowest rate of obese adults was Colorado at 22.3%.  If you are interested in your state, visit Adult Obesity Rate by State, 2016.  Some states and their rankings are noted below:

States
% Obese Adults (BMI 30+)
District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Colorado
20-24.9%
Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, South Dakota, Virginia
25-29.9%
Nebraska, North Dakota, Iowa, Texas, Wisconsin
30-34.9%
Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana
                  35%+

But there is good news.  In the last two years, five states have shown a reduction in the number of adults who are obese.  

The editorial noted that it is easier to prevent obesity than it is to lose the weight after the fact.  In college, my nutrition professor was Mrs. Osborne.  She went to a convention for a week, came back to class and said she had gained five pounds at the convention.  Lots of sitting and lots of good food to eat.  But, she then said, “and now I will lose the five pounds.  No apple pie for dessert for a while.”  Rather than let the five pounds lead to more weight gain over time, she dealt with the five pounds soon after she had gained the weight.  A few weeks later she announced to the class that she had lost those five pounds.  

The Trust for America’s Health found some disturbing facts about how teenagers eat.
  •  5.2% of high school students surveyed said they had not eaten any fruit or 100% juice in the week before the survey.
  • 6.7% said they had not eaten a vegetable in the week prior to the survey
  • 14% did not eat breakfast

Eating healthier is a common theme among my students and people I talk to.  Yet, there is a lot of confusion about what eating healthier means.  The Dietary Guidelines have some recommendations for “eating healthier”.
  • Limit calories from added sugars – soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages.  Look at the ingredients of the beverage you are drinking.  Is it 100% juice or a juice drink which can be loaded with added sugar.
  • Make at least half the grains in your diet, whole grains



  • Choose fat-free or low-fat dairy – milk, yogurt, cheese, fortified soy beverages.  Or as noted in last week’s blog, enjoy some whole milk yogurt as the saturated fat from dairy may not be bad for your health.
  • Eat fruits and vegetables, especially whole fruits.  Aim for at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
  • Oils – look for monounsaturated fats like Olive Oil or polyunsaturated oils like canola, corn, safflower, sunflower oil. And when choosing a cooking spray, choose one made from one of these oils.

Physical Activity – not surprising is how physically inactive many Americans are.  CDC looked at adults 50 years and older and found a low percentage of adults who are involved in physical activity.  Trust for America’s Health reports 80% of American adults do not meet the government’s national physical activity recommendations for aerobic activity and muscle strengthening.  About 45% of adults are not sufficiently active to achieve health benefits.  Not surprisingly, the states who have the most physically inactive adults are also the states with higher rates of obesity. On a positive note, more people are becoming physically active 32 states.

Physical Activity GuidelinesThe Dietary Guidelines on Physical Activity states:  Regular physical activity is one of the most important things individuals can do to improve their health.   How much physical activity is recommended?
  • Children 6-17 years – 60 minutes  or more of physical activity every day.  Most of this activity should be aerobic, of moderate or vigorous intensity.
  • Adults 18-64 years – being active is better than inactivity.  Aim for 2 hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity and one hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic physical activity.  This can be done in 10-minute intervals throughout the week.
  • Adults 65+ - If they can, follow the adult guidelines.  If not, older adults should be as physically active as their condition and abilities allow them to be.  Include a focus on balance exercises.  

My daughter told me about a physical education teacher, Brian Howells, who asks all his students to go to the bookstore or a local store and buy a Fitbit to track their steps as part of his class requirement.  I was in a retail store recently and the clerk said when no customers were in the store, he walked around the store and had just finished walking 1,000 steps.   Walking 10,000 steps a day is a good goal to work towards.  If you are not at 10,000 steps a day, then work towards walking more steps than you do now.

The editorial ends by stating: “Americans will do what they want to do, but if they want to be around longer to enjoy family and friends, and endure fewer health issues as they age, avoiding obesity or dealing with obesity can be a good start.”


2 comments:

  1. Having Dementia disease knocked my grandma off her life and had her living like a mad person, I didn't know how the better part of her life eluded her, my mind was completely splatted in two, She showed a severe decline in her mental and cognitive skills in the last few years of her life and her quality of life had deteriorated greatly in the last 3 years of life where she was mostly bedridden. I am very glad my partner sought help and now she is free from all signs of psychosis. She was healed through the herbal medicines from Dr Charanjit, I do not wish to go the same route and I manage to live a fairly active and healthy lifestyle.
    Here are her words "Finally, can you imagine what it would feel like to be NORMAL again, like I were before I was struck down by this horrible condition that you never asked for, and don’t deserve?" Sounds great doesn't it?
    You can contact him via email charantova@gmail.com He is well known for his groundbreaking treatments concerning the brain and mind issues.

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  2. In my own case it was just over four years ago when my Mum began to sound different on the phone. She lived back East with my siblings and my husband and I were living on the West coast and in phone calls it became apparent that my Mum's voice no longer had the same tones of excitement and humor that she used to; and instead it was very flat. At the same time she began to tell us about a situation at work that just didn't seem possible; she was complaining that a group of fellow workers were conspiring to get her. Although Mum had much academic success as a teenager, her behavior had become increasingly odd during the past years. She quit seeing her friends and no longer seemed to care about her appearance or social pursuits. She began wearing the same clothes each day and seldom bathed. She lived with several family members but rarely spoke to any of us. Obviously this whole story seemed very unbelievable and we sensed something was wrong but had no clue as to what it could be. We recommended that my Mum quit her job and look for something else - as we began to wonder if she had a "mental breakdown" and would get better once out of the stressful job situation.
    In the case of Mum, she was having persecurtory delusions, auditory hallucinations and negative symptoms that had lasted for at least Three years. All of these symptoms fit with a diagnosis of Dementia. Her story reflects a common case, in which a high-functioning young adult goes through a major decline in day-to-day skills. Although family and friends may feel this is a loss of the person they knew, the illness can be treated and a good outcome is possible as it all got better when we started using a herbal medicine for her through Aparajita.
    My recommendation to people who are either wondering if they have Dementia or wondering if a friend or loved one has Dementia should contact aparajitatan@gmail.com. I think one of our key problems was that we didn't do this in the early days of my Mum's illness as we never thought of a natural alternative for her.

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