Morbid Obesity Is An Issue That Affects Everyone
With the number of people who are morbidly obese increasing year on year, nobody can afford to ignore this problem. You may not suffer directly yourself, you are bound to have family or friends or even children who fall into this category. If you don't you are very lucky.
But you are still probably affected by the fact that more and more Americans are overweight. Carrying a couple of extra pounds is one thing, being so overweight it could kill you is another. These people are putting their lives in danger but also placing the health system under an enormous burden. The chances of someone who is significantly overweight having a serious illness is much higher than if they followed a similar lifestyle i.e. occupation, whether they smoke, drank etc and were thin. Does this mean that I think they shouldn't be cared for? Of course not. Everyone deserves the best medical treatment possible. But the fact remains that our hospitals and medical centers are struggling to cope with the burden imposed on them and something needs to happen and soon.
We all collectively need to take action. We need to express our disgust at the multi-million dollar food industry that hides fats and sugars in our food in order to make it more tasty and last longer on the shelves. We need to vote with our feet and stop buying poor quality food thus forcing manufacturers to change. Can this be done? Of course. Look what public power has done about additives in foods and sweets. It isn't perfect but changes have been made.
It is a disgrace that poor quality food is all a lot of people can afford. Mass produced convenience food that bears little resemblance to the original ingredients and contains virtually no vitamins or minerals. These have been stripped out during the cooking process. That is one reason why fats and sugars have to be added. The food would taste awful without them. Kids are growing up on a diet of chips and chicken nuggets. The chips are one thing but exactly how much chicken does the average nugget contain?
What else can be done? We can spend more on educating our kids as to the benefits of a healthy diet. We have to go back to basics and insist on healthy school lunches and dinners. We need to get our kids outdoors playing proper games not ones generated on a computer screen. Every generation believes that their children are more at risk than previous ones. But in our case it could be true. We are killing our children by feeding them poor quality food and not letting them get enough physical activity. It is no wonder they are obese and being diagnosed with ADHD, ADD etc.
Only by education and example can we change the habits of this generation and the next and thus prevent our kids and grandchildren dying young. We cannot afford to ignore the whole issue of the morbidly obese any longer.
