In 2003, the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Richard H. Carmona, gave a testimony before the Subcommittee on Education Reform of the US Congress. The prepared statement was entitled “The Obesity Crisis in America”. Its most telling declaration is this: majority of American children are overeating and suffer from a notable lack of exercise.
This report by the Surgeon General comes as a summation of previous researches made by the US Public Health Service and other associated government agencies on this issue. In most of those studies, the findings point to an increasing incidence of obesity and one of the recommendations has always been a balancing increase in physical activity. It seems that despite the programs from the public sector to increase awareness of this health issue and the proliferation of commercial campaigns on fitness from the private sector, this health message is not being heard as well as it should be.
Growing prevalence of overweight and obesity cases
Use of the word may seem alarmist, but if one were to look at the facts presented in the Surgeon General’s report, to say that there is an obesity crisis is not an exaggeration. Dr. Carmona points out that 2 of 3 Americans are either overweight or obese and that 1 of 8 deaths in the country are caused by an overweight or obesity related disease. To put this in perspective, one has to take note that in the 1960’s, just 4 decades ago, the number of overweight children between ages 6 to 17 was only slightly higher than 4%. Now that rate has tripled to 15%. The complicated aspect about being overweight in childhood is that it doesn’t simply go away as one grows up. Around 25% of overweight teenagers will most likely remain overweight into their early adulthood.
Cost of obesity
The supersize value meal typically offered in fast food restaurants is the favorite culprit that’s blamed for the country’s overweight and obesity problem. The irony here is that while fast food customers save loose change with supersize meal purchases, the total cost of obesity every year is in the billions of dollars. This is not entirely surprising as the medication, hospitalization, and other medical expenses for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, two of the most common results of overweight and obesity, do not come cheap.
To think that one could have avoided all that special medicine or treatment by simply increasing the volume and intensity of physical activity at least 30 minutes a day. This doesn’t even have to involve spending on gym membership or special equipment. Walking is one form of exercise that’s free and easy to accomplish and costs no more than a short amount of time and physical effort.
Attitudes toward exercise
One of the more unfortunate aspects of this problem is that it is completely preventable but it seems that young people have trouble taking up exercise. A study conducted by Ghent University in Belgium attempted to explore the varying attitudes towards physical activity in teenagers. According to the results, those who are overweight or obese develop a negative attitude towards sports and exercise which usually stems from simple complaint on the physical hardship involved to outright insecurity about physical appearance and capacity.
This validates Dr. Carmona’s point that parents play a key role in the solution to the obesity crisis. It is up to them to motivate their children to be more physically active and one of the best ways to do this is to set the example by being more physically active themselves.
