Thursday, May 23, 2013

America: Fat, Sick, Broke and in Denial











2 comments:

mugwump said...

Geez Terrierman, I'm working on it...and it's not just us.

" According to the Wall Street Journal, surveys which have found that one in every five pet dogs in the country is now obese, defined as 30 percent above a normal weight, and that nearly half of the veterinarians polled say that their patient population fits that definition."

PBurns said...

Dog obesity is 40 of the canine population, same as human obesity is 40 percent of the human population.

If we feed dogs less and run them, they lost weight.

Humans do the other thing -- they continue to eat while sitting at the computer and decribe the roll-over fat that ensues as "curves."

It's hard to maintain anything close to the right weight for a lot of people, and that certainly includes me.

High-fat foods are all around us. Our jobs are sendentary for the most part.

But so what? Booze is also all around an alcoholic.

You need to do whatever it takes to get healthy, whether that is surgery, diet change, portion restriction, excercise, or a 12-Step program. A little less time on Facebook is not fatal.

What's clear is that denial is not part of the solution, and neither is trying to define the problem away.

And yes, this is not just the "personal" problem of fat people, is it? We legislated helmets on motorcycles, and we have banned smoking indoors. Now we are tackling the issue of fat with calorie notices on packages, insurance coverage that covers surgery for the severely obese, and free gym memberships at more and more jobs.

More clearly needs to be done, but Job One is to stop the denial. Fat at the rate and level we are seeing it today is not normal. It's sick. It's expensive. And it's preventable.