2013

Kids today will live shorter lives than their parents

Kids today will live shorter lives than their parents
Recently in the news the American Medical Association recognized obesity as a disease. The ruling caused a lot of debate in the health and wellness fields, with some supporting the classification while others vehemently opposed.

 

Obesity: the old vs the new


To better understand the contrast between old and new definitions, here's the original  CDC  definition of Overweight and Obesity:
Overweight and obesity are both labels for ranges of weight that are greater than what is generally considered healthy for a given height. The terms also identify ranges of weight that have been shown to increase the likelihood of certain diseases and other health problems.

Note, the CDC also uses the Body Mass Index as a tool for determining people's ideal body weight for optimal health... I don't feel it is the best tool available, but I'll let my earlier blog post explain why.


While defending their reasoning for defining obesity as a disease, I particularly loved the following statement by the AMA:
...suggestion that obesity is not a disease but rather a consequence of a chosen lifestyle exemplified by overeating and/or inactivity is equivalent to suggesting that lung cancer is not a disease because it was brought about by individual choice to smoke cigarettes.

Bottom line, the new ruling by the AMA will force more attention on medical care, research and education similar to that of other major global medical diseases.

All Press is Good Press


I personally believe that all the press associated with the new AMA definition (whether positive or negative) is a great thing.  Google and other search engines are seeing as much as an 800% increase in searches using the keywords obesity , definition of obesity , and obesity epidemic.  The general population are keen to learn more about this increasing concern and taking responsibility to learn more about the disease.  I believe there is genuine concern surrounding the steps needed to be taken in order to address the looming effects obesity has and will have on this generation and the generations to follow.

"Designed to Move" and other organizations taking on the war against obesity


Fortunately many organizations exist in both the private and public sectors, that are actively charging head-on at the obesity epidemic.  One such organization which I love is "Designed to Move".  They offer a ton of resources, reports and findings on one of the main issues tied directly to the increase in obesity rates over the past 40 years - Inactivity.
Did you know that today's children are the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than that of their parents?  As a father of an 8 and 10 year old, this doesn't sit well with me.  What about you?

Check out the following infographic for some startling statistics which are sure to motivate you to get up and move more!


 

Designed to Move [infographic]

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