HBO Challenges “The Weight of the Nation”
You’ve certainly heard it before: obesity rates in America are reaching epidemic levels. Obesity is regarded by many as America’s biggest health risk and to bring attention to just how dangerous the disease has become, HBO launched a four-part mini-series titled “The Weight of the Nation” which ran in 2012. This documentary explored the preventable problem and asked the question, “How fat are we?” The answer may surprise you…
Previous research indicated that more than two-thirds of adults were overweight and half of those were obese, while one-third of our children and adolescents were overweight.
However, we have an update! Based on information published in June 2015 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 67.6 million Americans were obese and 65.2 million were overweight as of 2012. Obesity is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as having a body mass index of 30 or higher while overweight is defined as having a body mass index of 25-29.9.
This is a first for Americans; those who are obese outnumber those who are overweight!
Children twelve and under are the first generation in our nation’s history to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. The most frustrating thing is that it is so easily prevented. So how has this problem spiraled so out of control? There are plenty of usual suspects — our multi-billion-dollar fast food industry, processed foods designed for shelf-life, and even children’s school lunches.
The nationwide problem began the same way it does for so many of us; a gradual progression that is echoed by a subject in Part 1 of the documentary. “I remember telling myself this is the heaviest I will ever be, and that was 20 pounds ago.” This perpetuating mentality has befallen all of us at some time or another. Whether it’s time to clean out overflowing closets or shed that 10 to 15 pounds you put on over the winter, we tell ourselves, “I’ll start Monday! Tuesday… Wednesday? Well… the weekend is right around the corner, I’ll start next Monday…”
It’s come to this: To win, we have to lose. And we need to start now.
