☺In a society that has such broad access to free information on exercise, proper nutrition, and advice on healthy living, why is it that the rate of adult and childhood obesity is so high? Today, 69% of adult Americans are considered overweight, and 36% are obese (that’s over twice the worldwide average). To be technically labeled obese, you need to have at least 32% body fat if you are a women, and 25% if you are a man. The rate of childhood obesity in America is now 18%, and has more than doubled over the last 30 years. So while technology improvements our compounding the flow of useful information, the overall health of Americans is trending inversely, why?
According to research done by the Harvard School of Public Health, the answer as to why the average American is overweight is fairly simple, “it’s due to the combination of cheap-unhealthy foods mixed with a sedentary lifestyle”. So the way to reverse this unfortunate American weight gain trend is actually very straight forward. We need to eat less unhealthy fast-food, and become more active. The reality that eating less of the bad-stuff and exercising more is the only effective way to control body weight and stay healthy is probably not a surprise to most people.
In order to be considered “fit”, you need to have a percent body fat of 24 % or less if you are female, and 17% or less for males. That means to go from clinically “obese” to “fit”, both men and women need to reduce their body fat percentage by 8%. Generally speaking, that’s a weight loss of 15 to 20 pounds. Fortunately, most health experts consider a safe and sustainable rate of weight loss to be around 2 lbs. per week. Bottom line, even those people who are consider obese today are generally less than 12 weeks away from getting back to their ideal body weight. ☻
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