America

 

Once upon a time, a person looking down at his expanding waistline would shake his head and call himself "fat". This is no longer so. In sophisticated fashion, America has fashioned the whole phenomenon into a so-called disease. Today, you are no longer fat. You could be one of overweight, obese or morbidly obese! The numbers, sadly enough, are huge. 58 million Americans are overweight, 40 million obese and 3 million morbidly overweight. Over 100 million Americans are trying to tighten their belts. They are fighting the Battle of the Bulge!

If you are 4.5 to 13.5 kilograms (kg) (i.e. 10 to 30 pounds) above normal, you are overweight. Upto 22.5 kg (50 pounds) makes you obese and above that, you better watch out!

There are two basic methods to attack the obesity problem: be more active and eat less. Both are easier said than done given that 78 per cent Americans are more sedentary than they ought to be while almost everybody over-eats one time or the other! The consequences can be disastrous. In particular, risk factors for diabetes as well as heart disease go up smartly if a person's Body Mass Index (BMI) - a number calculated from your weight and height - is above normal.

Reducing food intake cannot and should not be done in a hurry. You need to phase it out. Slow and steady is the name of the game. "Do not fall for Guaranteed Weight Reduction Plans" or "Chinese Diet Pills" and so on. Remember, there is no quick fix formula for obesity.