Health experts seem divided on the causes of obesity however all experts agree the obesity problem is sweeping the world at an alarming rate. On one hand some experts claim a genetic flaw is the main cause of the problem whilst others argue a strong case for lack of exercise, modern lifestyle and poor diet being the cause in the majority of cases for overweight to obese people.
Whatever your personal feelings are on the subject, there is something everyone should agree on and that is, this subject needs to be talked about more than it already is.
Obesity is growing at such an alarming rate that at some stage it will affect everyone either directly or indirectly; recent figures show more than 31% of all Americans, 25% of Mexicans, 23% of United Kingdom residents suffer from this problem and unfortunately the list does not stop here, the wonder is where will it all end?
If there is one thing all health experts do agree on it is that this killer has no boundaries, it does not discriminate between the sexes or age, it does not care where you reside but it certainly thrives on the way you live.
Just to step back a little and think outside the circle, certainly not to ignore the findings of research carried out in this field, the arguments that have been put forward and debated on the genetics as opposed diet and lifestyles issues; however if I may, my intent here is to look at this subject from a personal perspective.
There are many good articles written that lay support to the genetic argument however here I will look at modern day lifestyle and family diet issues. True I cannot claim formal qualifications as an expert in these fields however what I do have is close personal contact with obese persons and common sense observations of families in everyday life situations.
Have you ever just sat at a coffee shop in the middle of a shopping mall, or sat in a park maybe near the beach and just watch the people walk by. If you try this method of observation you will see very quickly, there are an awful lot of people walking past that don’t follow healthy diets. Sitting there for just a short period you are sure to see several families “very overweight” walking by with hands full of “junk food” yes, healthy diet stuff like, MacDonald’s, Burger King, Dagwood dogs, hot dogs and then off they go to ice creamery or the donut shop for a nice healthy dessert, yep, one healthy diet, any wonder why Mum, Dad and the kids are just a little or maybe a lot on the fat side. Oh, look following a few paces behind, is this the family dog, looks like another member of the family has fallen victim of poor diet from the look of that very round torso. Kind of hard to see the gene pool theory at work here.
Off to the local shopping mall and lets see what these families are buying for the family diet this week. A glance in the direction of the shopping trolley as it passes you sees Mum, Dad and the kids have put a selection of their favorite diet items in basket to consume for the next week. Observation is, all members of this family would be likely classed as obese, so lets look at the contents of the shopping basket, okay we have soft drinks, frozen pizza, tins of food, big packet of biscuits, several loaves of bread, cakes, jam, there must be some fresh produce in that shopping basket, or was there?
Agreed that is being a little cynical, but it is also, unfortunately in many cases, so true.
Being honest with ourselves for a moment, we are well aware the consequence of poor diet and a “careless” attitude to exercise are the most significant factors in the ever growing obesity problem that is taking a stronger and stronger hold in many countries around the world. There is no doubt there is a valid argument, a certain portion of people that are classed as obese have a genuine genetic issue when it comes to weight loss but how do we lay the blame on genetic issues when Mum, Dad, the kids and the family pets are all overweight? Simply you cannot, the only reason here is lifestyles and diet issues.
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