Obesity Factors?

Amazing how everywhere you look now, you see ads and news articles on how obese America has become, even the children and infants (remember when a chubby baby was considered healthy and cute). I am not an expert, but I have been listening to the reasons and I don't agree with most of them. So I thought I would add my non-expert “opinions” of why some people are struggling with their weight (other then medical problems).

#1 reason is that the baby boomers which account for a big portion of our adults right now in the USA are reaching retirement years. Most people start piling on the pounds when they are less active, and that is exactly what happens when we retire, we become less active and our eating habits stay the same. (Remember when chubby grandmas and grandpas were considered comfortable)

#2 reason is our foods that we buy, already prepared, are loaded with “preservatives”, man-made and other “chemicals”, to keep the food’s “shelf life” longer,(in other words; preventing the food from rotting before we buy and eat it). I guess if you think about it, if "preservatives" are making food last forever or almost, then what could it be doing to our bodies trying to digest it in the way our maker created it to do? My guess is if you can’t digest it or get rid of it, you store it.

#3 reason is the vast amount of places where we can get a meal already cooked or in most cases, deep fried and served in extremely large servings, and our guilt systems of not wanting to waste food, or money tells us that we need to eat everything on our plates, makes it hard to walk away from the food. Even using a take home container can be asking for trouble, as we end up eating a lot of food that is not good for us. I don’t know this for a fact, but I sometimes think that there is something else added to these foods, because it seems once I start eating them, I can’t seem to stop; it is easy to become addicted to. Plus, I want more and more at each sitting, and I don’t think my body has been created to handle that much food ever.

#4 reason is the exercise factor, in days of old; we could go for a walk down the street and not worry about getting mugged, attacked, bitten by a stray dog, or become caught in a local shoot out. Things seemed to be more peaceful then. Everything we have is fast paced and automatically done for us now. Most of us do not have to work hard to get something done, unless it is a “mental” workout. The gyms and places to workout are expensive and time consuming, by the time we go and workout everyday, we are spending approximately two hours to drive there, workout, or wait for the machines to open so we can workout and then shower afterwards. Seems not many people have that kind of time each day. I don’t know about you, but with my full time job and other adult responsibilities I sure don’t have all that extra time a week, let alone daily.

#5 reason is our children are entertained by all the newest electronic technology, and do not know what it’s like to go outside and play and use their imaginations, it is not safe for them outside nowadays anyways, with the child predators, attackers, and people’s trained animals (trained to attack anything living other then the owner) running loose because it seems that it is considered socially unconscionable to "pen up" an animal. So meanwhile our children are trapped in the house or in school buildings, (because Physical Education is not considered that important anymore) with no way to get out and exercise naturally by climbing, running, jumping and playing as much as they should, in order to have healthy bodies.

These are just some reasons that I came up with off the top of my head, I am sure there are many other factors too.

CU