Let’s Really Take a Look at Obesity

Let’s Really Take a Look at Obesity ... it ain't pretty
Photo by CC user Tibor Végh on Picasa (Google)

More and more people become obese during childhood. However, we are also starting to see more adults who are thing again, and who are getting stronger. That is because they went to clinics such as http://bariatric.stopobesityforlife.com after taking a real look at their problem. Let’s really take a look at obesity, as it is a serious health issue that affects us all.

A Candid Look

Let’s face the facts: obesity isn’t healthy and it isn’t natural. If we look at the animal kingdom, only fit animals are classed as healthy. There isn’t enough food around to get fat, even though animals eat what they get. If there was a surplus of food, there simply would be less hunting, not more eating. But animals survive by fitness. If, by some chance, they do get fat (look, for instance, at domesticated cats and dogs), they don’t live long either.

Millions of us live sedentary lifestyles due to our jobs. Near our workstations, there are lots of unhealthy snacks that we feel keep us energized. They are cheap, readily available, and quick and easy. We still are biologically predisposed to eat what we can get, but because what we can get is too plentiful and too bad for us, we become fat.

Then, there is the issue of the media. Being overweight has been normalised. People all around us, on television and in real life, are larger. Once upon a time, you would struggle to find any clothing in an XL size. Now, there are so many XXXL sizes that we struggle to find the smalls. There are even plus sizes for juniors and for mannequins!

Visit any fast food restaurant, or a restaurant that serves buffet style food, and what do you see? At least six out of 10 people are fat or even obese, and they really shouldn’t be there. But they are driven there, again through normalization and the fact that it is readily available.

The government, health departments, and insurance companies all tell us that we need to start taking responsibility for what we eat. They tell us that we need to lose weight because we cost the economy billions of dollars. They tell us that bariatric surgery is available (thankfully it is, because it has been a lifesaver for so many people!). But they don’t address the media. They don’t address the fact that being overweight or obese is now normal.

We must all take responsibility for being overweight. After all, we are not forced to eat the junk food. Nobody holds a gun to our head at work and tells us that we absolutely must get that Mars bar (and a packet of Maltesers for good measure) from the vending machine. But we have to be honest and say that we have had a role to play in this as well. Without that, we will never be able to change either. And if you are a candidate for bariatric surgery, something that will likely save your life, you have to be able to show that you are ready and willing to change – for good.