We hear a lot about obesity and our lack of fitness. Let’s spell out briefly what all the hoopla is about and how our area is affected. Finally, if being overweight affects you or a loved one, then you will get some useful tips.
“The toll of obesity is driving up healthcare costs and crippling the fabric of our communities,” says Stephen Galson, M.D., M.P.H, Acting Surgeon General. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) reports that 34% of Americans age 20 and older are obese. 32% of U.S. youth are overweight -17% are obese. The body mass index (BMI), which is a person’s weight (in kilograms) divided by their height in meters squared, is the CDC’s form of measurement. Adults with a BMI over 30 are considered obese as are children whose BMI is above the 95th percentile for their age and sex.
Researchers from the state-sponsored Ohio Family Health Survey estimate that one-third, or approximately 500,000, of Ohio’s children are obese or overweight, as reported in the August 4, 2009 Plain Dealer.
If you don’t believe the statistics, then do what most of us over thirty do. Recall how there may have been one chubby kid in your grade school class as a kid. Now, compare kids’ classrooms today. Do you see a difference?
Why care? Fatness, to be blunt, creates additional hormonal changes in the body. It elevates a person’s risk for for cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Diabetes, for instance, causes poor blood circulation, kidney disease, and eventual dependency on frequent kidney dialysis (picture tubes in to your body connected to a machine to clean the blood). The CDC says roughly 85% or 78,013 of Cuyahoga County diabetics are overweight or obese. Suddenly, excess body fat is too big a problem to be ignored.
As an adult, why wait when you can model healthy changes now? There are plenty of great resources and solid fitness advice guide you. Here are some good ways to start.
Get rid of junk food, reduce or eliminate alcohol (a big time contributor to belly fat), eat a lean protein source for all meals and snacks, and exercise your body daily.
Brian Grasso, Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association, coach and author of The Youth Obesity Solution suggests that exercise has to be fun, so play don’t exercise.
Lakewood offers many fit options with our multiple parks and playgrounds, easy walking, fitness businesses, the Lakewood Earth and Food Community (LEAF), and easy access to the Cleveland Metroparks. Excuse-free fitness is at your doorstep.
Liz Donnelly is a mother of three and Owner, Personal Trainer, and IYCA-certified Youth Fitness Specialist for Training by Liz, LLC. She is a member of the Holistic Moms Network, Junior Womens Club of Lakewood, Lakewood Early Childhood PTA, and runs a family fitness blog at www.FamilyFitnessGuru.com. Send comments to liz@trainingbyliz.com.
This article was originally printed in the Lakewood Observer.
