Being overweight or obese is not an American problem. It is a world problem. A November 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) projection indicated at least one in three adults in the world was overweight while one in ten was considered obese. The expansion of obesity and diabetes around the world provides international health experts new concerns, while they are still dealing with the problems of wide spread malnutrition. It is scary to think that today, many people around the world are more likely to die from issues related to being overweight than those that die from being underfed. Recently, Reader's Digest interviewed 16,000 people from 16 different countries around the world to learn about weight related attitudes and behaviors. What did they find out? While many in the U.S .are confronted with weight loss pills, powders and potions to tempt them as weight loss aids, the people in China (37 percent) lead the way in actually taking them. Because manufacturing is unregulated, this is a dangerous way for body conscious individuals in China to try to find a quick fix to their perceived ideal body. In the U.S., only 19 percent of us have taken weight loss pills and like in most all countries surveyed, women take them more frequently than men do. For many people, doctor's orders to lose weight are the primary reason for weight loss efforts. The survey results found the Swiss (11 percent) to be the least motivated to make a change based on their doctor's recommendation while the French (39 percent) were the most motivated to change. People in the U.S. fall in between (29 percent) with men (33 percent) paying slightly more attention to the doctor's suggestions than women (27 percent). When it comes to being aware of the dangers of obesity, Finland leads the way. The survey found that a wide majority (83 percent) of Finns have tried to lose weight at one time or another. The U.S. is not far behind with 72 percent of us having attempted weight loss with health reasons being at the top of the list of reasons why. When people have a problem, the parents are a common culprit of blame and this is very common for people in Russia (70 percent) when it comes to weight. To be fair, what they are really blaming is the genes of their parents and the hereditary influences that they provide. Germans (61 percent) and Indians (50 percent) also use family heredity as a frequent excuse for weight issues while less than a quarter (21 percent) of Americans blame good ole mom and dad. Do any of these study results surprise you? What do you see where you live?
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At 202 pounds my BMI is 28.2. My medical chart describes me as a "slightly obese middle-age male." My people I know tell me I carry my weight well; I don't look obese, or even overweight; and yet the tables say I am. What am I, really? I am me.
Based on my life history I suspect I'll never reach the midpoint for "healthy weight" (156 pounds). I'll settle for 190 first, then see where I go from there; that seems realistic. Still, even at that weight I'll be classified as overweight (26.5 BMI).
If you doubt I don't look overweight, take a look at my family picture on my SparkPage and find out for yourself. Now, does that look like someone with a BMI of 28+? Report
No one to blame but me.
It does irritate me though, that it is SO EXPENSIVE to eat healthy. The cheaper processed foods are easier to buy, in bigger longer lasting quanties. Odd that the foods that are more processed (take more work to make) are the cheapest to buy... Report
What I find sad is that where I live, obesity is common, normal. We have all been raised that it is normal to be overweight, in our genes, unavoidable, my "education" by my peers, parents, and even my old family doctor was that since my weight wasn't causing any problems I was OK.
So the difficulty is that we are trying to undo these problems (and let's face it - it's much harder to undo than to prevent) while teaching our children differently in a world that still promotes junk food and video games. It's a big issue that will be tough to solve. Report
Another thing that helps is the video game era (thank goodness the Wii came out). The time when kids were playing around the neighborhood until the street lights came on is gone; now its all about playing the games ALL evening. Report
Because so many people around me are as large or larger than I am being overweight is normal. We all beat up on ourselves for it to some extent but its going to take a lot more than peer pressure to move us back from those high numbers on the scales.
I need to do this for me. For how it makes me feel and allows me to move. For my health, not for anyone else's opinion or expectations. Report
Good subject
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Honestly, I am surprised that it's a worldly thing since being overweight is typically pinned as an American thing. I just hope that it isn't used as another to suck away tax dollars in the name of "fighting the epidemic". Report
Larger portions, hormones in foods, convenience and less out door activity has put us (the world) in this mess. Report
In short, it's time we adjust to the "sedentary desk job" revolution and fit activeness and portion control into our lives and pass that down to the next generation. Report