Who doesn’t love food?!
We have access to burgers, fries, pizza, ice cream, chips, candy, pasta, fast food joints, and your grandmother’s Sunday meal to enjoy consistently. But is it as good for your body, as it is for your taste buds?
In the United States, the adult obesity rate stands at 46% according to Trust for America’s Health. Between 2008 and 2019 alone, the rate increased by 26% with no signs of this condition slowing down with the help of the current pandemic known as COVID-19.
Demographic trends and the conditions in people’s lives have played a helping hand in their ability to maintain a healthy weight.
With obesity being a common, serious, and costly disease, it’s no surprise that the numbers for obesity in children are higher than they need to be.
The CDC, reports that children ages 2 – 5 have an obesity prevalence of 13.9%. Among children ages 6 – 11, that number increases to 18.4% with adolescents ages 12 – 19 topping the rate off at 20.6%.
“Solving the country’s obesity crisis will require addressing the conditions in people’s lives that lead to food insecurity and create obstacles to healthy food options and safe physical activity. Those conditions include poverty, unemployment, segregated housing, and racial discrimination. This year’s pandemic has shown that these conditions don’t only increase the risk of obesity and chronic illnesses, they also increase the risk of the most serious COVID outcomes.” – John Auerbach, President, and CEO of Trust for America’s Health.
- All causes of death (mortality)
- High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
- Stroke
- Coronary Heart Disease
- Osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage and bone within a joint)
- Many Types of Cancer
- And so much more ….
So how do we change the fate of our health and that of our children?
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