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Americans, in almost every demographic group, are no longer getting fatter and fatter. They're just fat, and obesity seems to have reached a plateau at very high rates.
In the most recent years for which statistics are available, 2011-2012, a little under 17 percent of American youth and a little over 34 percent of American adults are obese. Using the body mass index (BMI) as a tool for diagnosing obesity, however, has its limitations.
Body mass index only takes into account body mass (weight) and height. It doesn't take into consideration the reality that different people have different builds and body types. A professional weight lifter, for example may have a very lean body but a very high BMI, because she has a lot of muscle mass. Most persons of Asian descent, especially those of South Asian descent, tend to have more body fat than their BMI's suggest. That is because thinner people of Asian descent tend to accumulate "belly fat" more than people in other heritage groups.

Is the obesity epidemic due to the fact that Americans eat too much? That's probably an oversimplification of the issues. After all, 100 years ago, most American women consumed 3,000 to 3,500 calories per day and most American men consumed 5,000 to 5,500 calories per day, and obesity was almost unknown except among the very wealthy who had household servants. The obesity epidemic probably has less to do with the fact that Americans eat too much than with the fact that they exercise far too little. Getting as much exercise in a day as most experts recommend for a week, the equivalent of 2,000 calories a day, undoubtedly would relieve the obesity epidemic. However, Americans are not likely to give up their cars, their household appliances, and their central heating and air conditioning just so their bodies can burn more caloires.
Is the obesity epidemic in the USA due to eating too much fat and protein? Over the last 20 years, Americans have been reducing their consumption of both protein and fat.
They have been increasing their consumption of carbohydrates, especially carbohydrates in "fat free" products. Some scientists even believe that the promotion of low-fat products in the 1990's was a major part of the problem. “I believe the low-fat message promoted the obesity epidemic,” says Lyn Steffen, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. When we cut out fat, we began eating foods that were worse for us, loaded with sugar and salt.
What can you do to avoid becoming part of America's obesity statistics? The standard advice, which is largely unappreciated but valid, is to exercise more and to eat less. Exercising more doesn't necessarily mean spending another five minutes a day at the gym. It could be something as simple as walking to work instead of taking your car when the weather is nice.
It could mean vacuuming under the couch every time you vacuum around the couch, or parking in a spot farther away from the entrance to the supermarket.
Eating less doesn't mean giving up entire groups of macronutrients, such as protein and fat. Eating less can mean always leaving just a little room for more, never eating until you are stuffed. If you are anxious about where your next meal is coming from, buy ahead, and exercise the discipline to eat later, not now. Your body will reward you by finding your natural weight as you take control of your appetite.
- Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. JAMA. 2014 Feb 26. 311(8):806-14. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.732. PMID: 24570244.
- Photo courtesy of Rupert Taylor-Price via Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/rupertuk/4159721351
- Photo courtesy of Rupert Taylor-Price via Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/rupertuk/4159721351
- Photo courtesy of ReneS via Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/rene-germany/6360055129
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