YOUR HEALTH

Obesity confusion

Obesity – excess weight and fat so you cannot see your feet when standing or do up your shoe laces or are breathless after climbing  a 20 steps -- is NOT good and a serious health risk. As highlighted by the body part diagrams in a Time magazine article, March 3, 2014, pages 42-43, excess body fat build up and related cholesterol damage almost every internal organ, cause throat airway constriction and depression!!!                     

Yet, as the battle over weight and obesity rages on and governments panic, the data is becoming more and more confusing and contradictory:

 
  §   According to the Time magazine clip, page 11, March 10, 2014, the obesity rate among  American children ages 2 to 5 has DROPPED by 43% in the last 10 years.  It even included a graphic package of “slim-fit diapers” to highlight the point.

 

  §   According to the Time magazine article, March 3, 2014, pages 40-44,  17% of American            children ages 2 to 19 are obese today.

 

  §   According to the same article, white Americans males and females are equal in obesity at 16% and 15% respectively, but among blacks 17% of males are obese and a whopping 23% (or 50% greater number)of females.  As for Hispanics, the numbers are almost reversed with 24% of males obese and only 17% of females.

 

To me, the radically different male and female numbers among blacks and Hispanics suggest that there are genetic, ethnic and gender factors at play and not just ‘junk’ diet issues.

 

And how in the world are infants and toddlers getting less obese while the obesity numbers that include them are soaring?

 

Remember, obesity rates since 1980 have tripled (according to Time) and this coincides with the mass use of the BMI as the standard for determining what is ‘healthy’, ‘overweight’ and ‘obese’; and as any reader of this blog knows, it is highly flawed and never meant as to be used for populations under age 18 (as they were not used in the original data samples) and do not reflect ethnic biological differences as the date was predominately white Americans.

 

So, what do you think?   

 

Do you trust the ‘professional numbers’?

 

More importantly, do 17% of or more of the people you see under age 20 look obese to you?

 

That would be 1 in every 6 young people!