Harping on Obesity as an opponent to Wellness

Why is Obesity at epidemic proportions in this country. Well it would depend on the age group evaluated. Children used to spend most of their days outside playing, running, riding bikes. The saddest part of the day was being called in for dinner. Summers were wonderful because it got dark late and so we could run and play until nearly 9 PM. Today no one seems concerned about how lack of exercise effects a child's Wellness. Large numbers of children are obese. Why? They eat pizza, french fries and sugary soft drinks at school lunch. When they come home they don't even consider going out. It is either the TV, or video games. Rarely do children play on the playground, and learn vigorous sports. We treat them with McDonnals, preparing them for a Wellness free life. As well as the low self esteem, stemming from Obesity. We can then look at teens. Where to they hang out? Fast food restaurants. They eat and drink sugary drinks as long as they are there. Now we are teaching them that there is no need for portion control. Although, teens and young adults usually have fast metabolisms, there is only so much a body can hold before the calories in outstrip the calories out and we begin to see obesity in out teens and young adults. Now the attempts to lose weight set in and with them illnesses like Anorexia Nervosa and Bulemia. We are moving further and further from Wellness. Those who have difficulty with weightloss due to life style have to live through the jears of those who are on never ending weighloss plans, and not healthy ones either. Still because of High School and College Sports and a desire to fit in we have many young adults who delight in Wellness and don't need Weightloss, because their activity levels and metabolisms remain high. Now we have young couples and many young women of child bearing age, find themselves from this time forth battling the Weightloss battle, while young men turn into couch potatoes, downing beers, sugary drinks and fried snacks on the weekend. So what? Does it matter if these young men and women either give up on, or simply fail at weightloss? You bet it does. Would you like a glance at illnesses that threaten Wellness in our obese population? Diabetes Mellitus (sugar diabetes), high blood pressure, high lipids (low density cholesterol, tryglycerides and several others, that we needn't discuss as I'm sure you have the message), high lipids lead to athrerosclerosis, which in turn leads to heart attacks, strokes and numerous other illnesses that lead us further from wellness. The children of these couples don't even have a good role model in their parents, so as americans grow increasingly obese in epidemic proportions they either give up on Weightloss, or simply give up on caring about Weightloss. So what? We have artificial hips, artificial knees, have learned less invasive disk surgeries. Were you aware that during the Viet Nam war those soldiers that died overseas were found to already be depositing plaque in the carotid arteries that carry blood to the brain. We are talking about young men considered to be among the healthiest in the nation, and even they were on the road to losing wellness due to the food choices they had learned to make. Today nearly 30 years since the end of that conflict, obesity in America is at a higher level than ever before, and the sad thing is as we grow older and our metabolisms slow Weightlosss becomes more and more difficult. People may think their inability at weightloss endevors don't effect their wellness, but you can't feel high blood pressure, and you can't feel atherosclerosis until it damages organs.