Why are Americans Obese?

Let’s break down the title, “why are Americans obese?” a bit and make it more up close and personal. Let’s take your favorite aunt – call her Martha – and ask, “Why is Aunt Martha obese?”

The obvious answer is that she eats too much and exercises too little.

Martha certainly has plenty of company. There is ample evidence that documents the connection between eating, exercising and obesity. Consider:

** The recommended daily caloric intake for adult men averages about 2,700; for women, about 2,000. A recent survey indicated that the average daily caloric intake for Americans is about 4,000. Small wonder, then, that:

** 64 percent of people in the U.S. are overweight.

** 27 percent of Americans are obese. (People have traditionally been considered to be obese if they are more than 20 percent over their ideal weight.)

** Americans’ diet IQ seems to be dangerously low. For example, another recent survey showed that far more Americans are concerned about the fat content of their diets than are concerned about the total number of calories they consume. This line of thinking leads to obesity no matter what food is eaten, and it has played a huge role in supersizing Aunt Martha.

Aunt Martha may scrupulously avoid fats, meats or alcohol, but she’ll eat huge amounts of other foods. She buys foods that read "Fat Free" on the label. But although that big plate of pasta, or that fat-free cake or sweetened cereal she regularly eats might not have much fat, each is loaded with calories. And the calories that are not burned off through physical exercise turn into – you guessed it – fat. And Martha NEVER exercises. Too many calories and too little exercise is a deadly combination, in many cases literally so. And yet Aunt Martha complains that she just can’t seem to lose weight, even though she “eats right.” (The “Aunt Martha Mentality” is so prevalent that the obesity that is causing a major health problem in America seems at times to defy resolution.)

** Meanwhile, as the calories pile up, the amount of exercising Americans do is left behind in the dust. Americans are just “too busy” to exercise. They are too busy watching television, surfing the Internet or playing games on the computer, they’re too busy at work – you know the drill. (As an aside, it should be noted that Americans walk and bike far less than Europeans do.) And even if they do lose weight, the vast majority of dieters tend to regain the weight they have lost within 12 months. It would be much easier to maintain weight loss if they exercised regularly: three to five times a week for about 30 minutes each. But … well, pop another donut with that coffee and we’ll worry about exercising tomorrow.

There are other reasons that may factor into Aunt Martha’s excessive girth:

** Food subsidies make fattening foods such as dairy, meat, and bread cheaper, while fruits and vegetables are more expensive.

** Serving sizes have grown. A small drink at a movie theater (or a small bag of buttered popcorn for that matter) these days is the size of what an extra large was when Aunt Martha was a kid 20 or 30 years ago.

** Cheap meals when you eat out are fattening. Fast food under the arches is extremely unhealthy and has far too many calories.

** Finally, in what may be the most damning fact of all, public health officials in this country, aside from sounding the alarm once a year or so, don’t seem to be doing much about obesity in America. (Even American kids are getting fatter these days.) As one researcher noted, “No one is doing anything about all these problems.”

So yes, Aunt Martha is a wonderful lady, and you love her a lot, but you’d better enjoy her while you can.

Because she might not be around much longer.