Many Americans know that obesity is a problem in the United States both for adults and for children. In addition, this is the time of year when we all start to think about how things went (or grew) last year and what we want to do better during 2013.
Have you decided that you are going to lose weight, eat better, exercise or any combination of these? If so, good luck and I hope that the gym membership and healthy food in the fridge gets put to good use! If you can stick to it for 3 weeks you may have a chance to really establish a good habit.
Knowing that obesity is a problem for so many of us isn’t surprising. What is surprising is that many people are unaware of how many ways being overweight or obese impacts their health. A recent poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicates that although most of us know obesity is related to heart disease and diabetes we are unaware of other serious effects including:
- Higher risk of cancers of the colon, breast, protate and uterus
- Greater difficulty locating tumors
- Arthritis – the vicious cycle of gaining weight makes it more difficult to exercise and shed pounds which helps to improve arthritis
- Infertility
- High blood pressure and high cholesterol
- Respiratory problems such as sleep apnea and asthma
If more Americans were aware of the additional risks of being overweight or obese, it might motivate them to work harder to shed excess weight. It is not only about looks but about the ability to live a longer, healthier life. Since now is the perfect time to jump on the health bandwagon you should start with a baseline of your current health with blood tests for cholesterol, blood pressure and overall heart health, along with your weight and measurements so you can create a picture of where you want to be and what changes or improvements you’ll need to make to reach your goals. According to the survey most people support posting nutritional information in restaurants so as this information becomes available we need to take advantage of it. The majority of Americans are against any government restrictions including food taxes and restrictions on what we are able to buy. This means it is up to each of us to make the right choices for so many reasons!
Written by www.labtestingnow.com