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Little Known Facts About
Changing in Our Diet
To say that Americans are obsessed with dieting is an understatement!
Pick up any magazine, tune-in or turn-on any source of advertising and
you're bombarded with the latest diet schemes and food fads. More often
than not, they are endorsed by some familiar Hollywood celebrity, or
promoted using some other cleaver technique.
It's no mystery that the weight-loss industry has built a thriving
empire. In America, for example, we spend about 35 billion dollars
every year on an assortment of weight loss products and plans. In
addition, we spend another 79 billion dollars for medication,
hospitalization, and doctors to treat obesity-related problems. Even
with this, the obesity epidemic continues to spread. Sadly, we have
become the heaviest generation in our Nation's history.
The National Center for Health Statistics reports that we have some
very good reasons to be concerned about our weight-gain. Americans, for
example are packing-on the pounds faster than ever before and
weight-related medical problems are taking center stage. Diseases like
heart disease, diabetes and yes...even certain forms of cancer have all
been linked to obesity.
Here are a few of the surprising statistics about our weight:
- A whopping 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or
obese. That's up approximately 8 percent from overweight estimates
obtained in a 1988 report.
- The percent of children who are overweight is also
continuing to increase. Among children and teens ages 6-19, 15 percent
or almost 9 million are overweight. That's triple what the rate was in
1980!
- Nearly one-third of all adults are now classified as obese.
At present, 31 percent of adults 20 years of age and over or nearly 59
million people have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, compared
with 23 percent in 1994.
(The BMI is a number that shows body weight adjusted for
height. For adults, a BMI of 18.5 - 24.9 is considered normal. A BMI of
25.0 - 29.9 is overweight and 30.0 or above, is considered obese.)
Modern life both at home and at work has come to revolve around
moving from one "seated" position to another: whether it's television,
computers, remote controls, or automobiles, we seem to be broadening
the scope of our inactive endeavors.
At times, life seems to have gotten almost too easy! For
entertainment, we can now just sit-down, dial-up our favorite TV
program or DVD movie and enjoy hours of uninterrupted entertainment...
And all those simple calorie burning activities that were once a
normal part of our daily routine not so long ago? Long gone! You know
the ones I'm talking about...activities like climbing stairs instead of
using escalators and elevators. Or, pushing a lawn mower instead of
riding around on a garden tractor. And what about that daily walk to
school? Now, our kids complain when the school bus happens to be a few
minutes late getting to the bus stop!
Along with the convenience of our affluent lifestyle and reduction
in energy expenditure, have come changes in our diet. We are now
consuming more calorie rich and nutrient deficient foods than ever
before.
Here are a few examples of what we were eating in the 1970's
compared to our diet today (information is taken from a recent U.S.
Department of Agriculture survey):
- We are currently eating more grain products, but almost all of
them are refined grains (white bread, etc.). Grain consumption has
jumped 45 percent since the 1970s, from 138 pounds of grains per person
per year to 200 pounds! Only 2 percent of the wheat flour is consumed
as whole wheat.
- Our consumption of fruits and vegetables has increased, but
only because the U.S.D.A. includes French fries and potato chips as a
vegetable. Potato products account for almost a third of our "produce"
choices.
- We're drinking less milk, but we've more than doubled our
cheese intake. Cheese now outranks meat as the number one source of
saturated fat in our diets.
- We've cut back on red meat, but have more than made up for
the loss by increasing our intake of chicken (battered and fried), so
that overall, we're eating 13 pounds more meat today than we did back
in the 1970s.
- We're drinking three times more carbonated soft drinks than
milk, compared to the 1970's, when milk consumption was twice that of
pop.
- We use 25 percent less butter, but pour twice as much
vegetable oil on our food and salads, so our total added fat intake has
increased 32 percent.
- Sugar consumption has been another cause of our expanding
waistlines. Sugar intake is simply off the charts. According to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, people are consuming roughly twice the
amount of sugar they need each day, about 20 teaspoons on a 2000
calorie/day diet. The added sugar is found mostly in junk foods, such
as pop, cake, and cookies.
- In 1978, the government found that sugars constituted only
11 percent of the average person's calories. Now, this number has
ballooned to 16 percent for the average American adult and as much as
20 percent for American teenagers.
The days of the wholesome family dinners so near and dear to
our hearts, where we all sat around the kitchen table to discuss events
of the day, are now a part of our sentimental past. They have been
replaced by our cravings for take-out and fast-food. We have gradually
come to accept that it's "OK" to sacrifice healthy foods for the sake
of convenience and that larger serving portions mean better value.
And, since I have been throwing-out statistics, here's one more:
Americans are consuming about 300 more calories each day than we did
twenty years ago. We should actually be eating less because of our
decreased activity level, but instead are doing the opposite!
Decide TODAY that healthy eating and exercise habits will become a
permanent part of your life!
Begin to explore your values and thoughts and other areas of your
life where change may be required, and then take action. Begin slowly,
but deliberately to make improvements in the areas you identify. And
remember, it has taken a very long time to develop your habits, and it
will take some time to undo them…so be patient!
Author: Arnel
Ricafranca
More
Fitness Articles by Arnel Ricafranca
© Copyright
2005
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