Fattening America

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. While we see this as a problem (most people don't enjoy being obese), most people fail to see the true consequences of this. The United States still doesn't have world high life expectancy, but this is only going to change as more and more people become fat.

From Forbes.com:

"If you want to look better, if you want to feel better, you lower your calorie intake, you lower your fat, your crabs, you eat more fruits and vegetables and more whole grains, and you exercise -- and that's as simple as it can be," he added. “If you want to look better, if you want to feel better, you lower your calorie intake, you lower your fat, your crabs, you eat more fruits and vegetables and more whole grains, and you exercise -- and that's as simple as it can be," he added.

The guidelines contain 41 key recommendations, 23 of them for the general public and 18 for certain populations such as children or older adults. Here are the main messages:

To maintain a healthy body weight, balance calories taken in with calories expended.
To reduce the risk of chronic disease in adulthood, engage in a moderate-intensity physical activity at least 30 minutes a day for most of days of the week. More vigorous exercise for longer periods of time is better.
To prevent gradual weight gain in adulthood, engage in about 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity on most days of the week while keeping calories constant.
To maintain weight loss in adulthood, do 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity while keeping calories constant.
Limit intake of saturated and Trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt and alcohol.
For a 2,000-calorie diet, eat two cups of fruit and two-and-a-half cups of vegetables each day.
Eat three or more ounce-equivalents of whole-grain products each day, with the rest of the recommended grains coming from enriched or whole-grain products. In general, at least half the grains should come from whole grains.
Consume three cups a day of fat-free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk products.
Consume less than 10 percent of total calories from saturated fatty acids and less than 300 milligrams a day of cholesterol. Keep Trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible.
Keep total fat intake between 20 percent and 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts and vegetable oils.
Eat lean, low-fat or fat-free meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk or milk products.
Consume less than 2,300 milligrams -- about one teaspoon of salt -- of sodium per day.
Increase potassium intake with fruits and vegetables.
Limit alcoholic beverages to one drink a day if you are a woman, up to two drinks a day for men. Some individuals, including pregnant women, should not drink alcohol at all.

On top of this, recent reports suggest that hypertension will rise too affecting 1/3 of the adult population of the WORLD. One can assume that developed countries such as the USA will have a higher amount of cases than the un-developed world. This will lead to increased heart disease and death from such complications. We have a problem here, and we need to take care of it. And the way to a healthy life is to teach you while young to eat healthy. Students in schools should be required to have body fat monitored (and parent recommendations made), as well as healthy food and no snacks available in the lower schools. In high schools, students should be required to participate in a sport or gym class each year, and food should be limited in the cafeteria (salads w/ low fat dressing should also be offered). We have to look to our children’s health to determine the health of this nation in coming years... our children are our future, so let's make sure our future doesn't involve larger airplane seats, wheel chairs and triple bypass surgery.
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5,959 views 9 replies
Reply #1 Top
Fattening America

By: sandy2
Posted: Friday, January 14, 2005 on Independent Left leaning Rants and Raves
Message Board: Politics
Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. While we see this as a problem (most people don't enjoy being obese), most people fail to see the true consequences of this. The United States still doesn't have world high life expectancy, but this is only going to change as more and more people become fat.


We are at #7 *worldwide* Wanna try again?

Link

Reply #2 Top
Doc... there is something wrong with the link you provided. I honestly can't explain it... but if you look at it you will see that Japan has a higher number but is ranked lower. There are other discrepancies like this. Now, if we use the CIA's listing, the USA is #49. Not so great, considering we are the wealthiest large country.

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html

Reply #3 Top
We're #7 at Human Development Index, but 27th in life expectancy from birth.

To put some perspective on that though, the leader is Japan at 81.3 (Japan was the only country above 80). The second highest country is Sweden, at 79.9. The US life expectency is 76.9.

It's not the government's responsibility to force everyone to live healthfully.
Reply #4 Top
It's not the government's responsibility to force everyone to live healthfully.


But the government has an interest in doing so, because other wise we have to pay their health care bills when the reach retirment.

but 27th in life expectancy from birth.


Again, I dispute this fact using the CIA's listing, which you would have seen if you took the time to click on the link I provided. This was updated in December of 2004.
Reply #5 Top

Reply #2 By: sandy2 - 1/14/2005 1:08:47 PM
Doc... there is something wrong with the link you provided. I honestly can't explain it... but if you look at it you will see that Japan has a higher number but is ranked lower. There are other discrepancies like this. Now, if we use the CIA's listing, the USA is #49. Not so great, considering we are the wealthiest large country.


Go back and do the math yourself. According to the link we're *still* in the top 10.
Reply #6 Top

Reply #4 By: sandy2 - 1/14/2005 1:20:49 PM
It's not the government's responsibility to force everyone to live healthfully.


But the government has an interest in doing so, because other wise we have to pay their health care bills when the reach retirment.

but 27th in life expectancy from birth.


Again, I dispute this fact using the CIA's listing, which you would have seen if you took the time to click on the link I provided. This was updated in December of 2004.


After the lies these guys have told, I would NOT trust anything the CIA has to say anymore.
Reply #7 Top
God gives man 3 score and 10 for the math challenged thats 70 years of life. anything over that is gravey.........
Reply #8 Top
Your link wasn't up when I was writing my post.

The CIA world factbook ranking includes several autonamous regions that are not countries, the EU as a whole, and several countries that have the population of small to mid-sized cities.

Reply #9 Top
God gives man 3 score and 10 for the math challenged thats 70 years of life. anything over that is gravey.........


What about the countries (mostly in Africa) that only have life expectancy in the 40s?