A sobering report from federal health officials was released last week in regards to the country’s obesity problem. Obese adults in the country were at 38 percent in years 2013-2014. It is a rise, albeit slight, from the 35 percent of obese adults in the years 2011-2012. What makes this report particularly disappointing is all the efforts that have been taken by way of initiatives and laws implemented to combat obesity resulted in no decrease in the statistics, but rather an increase.
There are some positives that came from those actions, such as the reduction in sugar and soda consumption as well as calorie intake. However, it seems as though those improvements belong to some demographics more than others. For example, African American women have an obesity rate of 47 percent, and Hispanic women are at 46 percent from years spanning 2011 to 2014. The next closest was Hispanic men with 39 percent.
The report concluded that there have been improvements in the American diet, but there is a wide gap with regards to who actually takes part in its improvement. Many of the people that don’t take part are lower-income and less-educated parts of the population. There’s increasing concern that there is no remedy for that particular issue. “When we take the U.S. average, we are hiding a lot of detail,” says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of then nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health.
The silver lining in the report were the results of childhood obesity. It showed that there are no changes in the obesity rate — that’s the next best thing to having a decrease. School lunch food requirements and the removal of sugar-sweetened beverages have been installed in school systems to stymie the obesity rate and they may be doing their part.
Researchers don’t have many answers as what the next course of action could be. Not only does much of America not partake in enough physical activity, but inexpensive and less healthy food choices become more attractive. A good place to start is with continuing to educate the public about living a healthy lifestyle and eating a proper diet. Also, we must educate people on how the body reacts to different type of foods. Simply put: We know that certain foods will make you gain weight, but why?
Reports such as this show that laws won’t be enough to slow the obesity rate of the country because at the end of the day the power is with the consumer. They will always be able to choose what they would like to eat. Change the mentality of the dieter and it will be a step in the right direction to reverse the upward trend of obesity in America.