Diet Tip
Fooducate
Jun 27 2016
This One Graph Tells the Story of America's Obesity Epidemic
In the past 30 years, America has gotten heavier. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 62 percent of women were overweight or obese. For men, that stat is 72 percent!
And yet, 6 in 10 Americans will tell you they believe their weight is normal.
How could this be?
Take a look at the graph above and you'll see that the definition of "normal" has changed in just one generation. When the average weight for women today is equivalent to that of men 2 generations ago, when what we see all around us are overweight peers and friends, is it any wonder that a 20 pound weight excess seems to be irrelevant?
On the other hand, we have developed a culture idolizing ultra-thin super-models, crazy starvation diets, and reality shows encouraging people to halve their weight in a few months through excessive exercise and dangerous eating patterns. We are so focused on functional foods for weight loss, that we have forgotten what it means to have a normal relationship with food.
Stop!
It's time to get back to basics. Do more of the following and you will improve your health, most likely losing weight as well:
* cook your own food
* bring your own lunch to school / work
* limit your intake of highly processed foods
* watch less tv
* exercise for strength and heart health
* sleep more
#WeightLoss #Graph #Obesity
(image idea: Natan Yau, Flowing Data)
And yet, 6 in 10 Americans will tell you they believe their weight is normal.
How could this be?
Take a look at the graph above and you'll see that the definition of "normal" has changed in just one generation. When the average weight for women today is equivalent to that of men 2 generations ago, when what we see all around us are overweight peers and friends, is it any wonder that a 20 pound weight excess seems to be irrelevant?
On the other hand, we have developed a culture idolizing ultra-thin super-models, crazy starvation diets, and reality shows encouraging people to halve their weight in a few months through excessive exercise and dangerous eating patterns. We are so focused on functional foods for weight loss, that we have forgotten what it means to have a normal relationship with food.
Stop!
It's time to get back to basics. Do more of the following and you will improve your health, most likely losing weight as well:
* cook your own food
* bring your own lunch to school / work
* limit your intake of highly processed foods
* watch less tv
* exercise for strength and heart health
* sleep more
#WeightLoss #Graph #Obesity
(image idea: Natan Yau, Flowing Data)
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