Yummy, yummy, yummy, see my obese tummy!” should perhaps be America’s new national anthem.
How Overweight Is America?
How serious is obesity in America? According to Kathleen Donnelly for MSN Health & Fitness, statistics show that “…60 percent of adult Americans weigh too much, and 17 percent of American children and teens are overweight.”
And the problem continues to escalate. In the past thirty years, children in the USA are increasingly tipping the scales. The rise of obesity among children between the ages of 6 and 11 has gone from 4% to 13 % in three decades. Obesity in US children ages 12 to 19 has gone from 5% to 14%. And if a child is obese at the age of 6, it has a 50/50 chance of being obese for life. Obese thirteen year olds have a 75% likelihood of being obese for the rest of their lives. This problem is even more severe among blacks and Hispanics.
To remedy their plight, 103,000 morbidly obese Americans living in the United States had gastric bypass surgery in 2003. The complication rate was 7%.
What causes obesity?
Several causes for obesity have been suggested, including heredity, social-economic conditions, diet, and exercise. Since we can’t control who our parents are, let’s focus on social-economic conditions, diet, and exercise.
Obesity & Social-economic conditions
Numerous studies have concluded that there is a direct cause and effect relationship between a person’s level of education and their odds of being overweight. The greater their level of learning is, the slimmer their odds of obesity are.
Dysfunctional Diets, Inadequate Exercise, and Bulging Belt-lines
Of course, two obvious causes of obesity are dysfunctional diets and a lack of proper exercise. Americans are exercising less and less while simultaneously consuming too much junk food. The average US woman is now consuming 335 more calories per day than the average woman in 1971. Calorie intake among men has increased to an additional 168 calories per day. Is it any wonder that America is increasingly becoming an obese nation?
Health Risks Associated with Obesity
Discomfort about one’s appearance, however, is not the only downside to obesity. There are numerous health risks associated with being overweight. Obese individuals have a higher-than-normal rate of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high lipids, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, strokes, respiratory disease, some types of cancers, heart disease, and other chronic and deadly conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts obesity will soon be America’s number one killer. In 2000, tobacco was linked to 435,000 deaths while obesity was close behind at 400,000 deaths.
What to Do About Obesity
There are primarily three things that most experts recommend to help maintain a healthy weight level: 1) Getting the proper amount of exercise, 2) eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, and 3) supplementing one’s diet with nutritional products.
The Value of Exercise
If you’re considering going on a diet to lose weight, remember that the important thing is not just to lose weight, but to keep it off. In order to lose weight and keep it off, there is no substitute for exercise. One study reported by The National Weight Control Registry shows that out of 3,000 individuals who lost a minimum of 30 pounds and kept it off for more than a year, only 9 percent lost weight without exercising.
How much exercise should an individual get?
The proper amount of exercise that an individual should get of course varies from individual to individual. To make certain you are getting the proper amount of exercise, consult your family physician.
Melissa Tennen, HealthAtoZ writer, says: “Get at least 30 minutes of activity on most days. To prevent weight gain, 60 minutes a day may be necessary.”
What is a Healthy Diet?
The short answer to the question, “What is a healthy diet?” is to eat a well-balanced diet that is as close as possible to the way nature intended. Fast foods and highly-processed foodless foods have been proven to have ill-effects on one’s health. Many are high in calories and low in nutritional value.
Yet not everyone has the time, the money, or the ability to eat “The Perfect Diet.” So what’s the solution?
The Importance of Supplementing Your Diet
No doubt, in a perfect world, we would not need vitamin pills, diet pills, and other nutritional supplements. We’d simply get everything our body needs from our food. But let’s get a reality check: This is not Eden. And getting everything your body needs from your diet alone is almost impossible. Plus, if you are overweight, you need extra help.
What to look for in a Weight-Loss Pill
If you’re looking for “The Perfect Weight Loss Pill,” there are a number of things to consider. Here are just a few:
Does the product’s formula utilize nutrients in the most absorbable and potent form available?
Most companies compromise on their nutrients. They use poorly absorbed forms or synthetically derived fractions of nutrients.
Does the product use ephedra stimulants or dangerous fat blockers?
For accelerated fat-loss support and increased performance, you need help with reducing hunger, utilizing fat, enhancing metabolism, and increasing true energy levels. Insist on a weight loss product that delivers all natural support for healthy weight loss, without using ephedra stimulants.
Also, avoid dangerous fat blockers. The perfect solution is to find a weight loss pill that works by helping support healthy digestion of stored fat and a healthy metabolism. Lipase is the enzyme responsible for breaking down fat, making it available for utilization as energy. Without lipase, fat is stored as excess body fat.
Does the product contain Citrin K.